A Life Forgotten
by Peanut Butter Bacon
Summary: Taking place right before volume two of RWBY and during the finale of Red vs Blue Reconstruction (season eight) begins the story of teams RWBY and JNPR's struggles after the loss of their friend... But unfortunately for them that's the least of their problems, because the Meta is on Remnant. Oh Dear... (Ps. Lot's of swearing, also my first story)
1. Chapter 1: And so it Begins

**Updated Note: Chapters #1-#3 have now been updated as to have less resemblance to Starlight's Poet's _Metastability,_ something that I didn't know about until I was working on chapter #4, but the openings from both stories were so freakishly similar and I've felt bad for a while now about that. To me it just seemed like I was copping their work, and I didn't like that feeling. I don't think it would be fair to them if I didn't make a few changes. Now that doesn't mean that I've changed everything, (cause it would effect the story too much) but hopefully these changes make my story feel like it's own thing and not some accidental carbon knock-off. Once again, as stated in chapter #4, I apologize to Starlight's Poet for what happened.**

 **Old Note: I do NOT own RVB, RWBY, or any music!**

 **Okay begin!**

* * *

Pyrrha lie wide awake on her bed. She hasn't hardly slept, or eaten anything for that matter, ever since… that day. Her teammates, friends, and teachers were worried about her. They should be. She had lot weight due to her not eating much, constantly had dark circles under her eyes, would hardly speak, and just seemed awful.

The only times she got sleep was if either she cried herself to or if Ren and Nora forced her to take sleeping pills. She just couldn't do it on her own. Every time she closed her eyes she saw him there. Jaune. It had been a little over a month since they took that job. The first semester was almost over and it was her idea to take up the task. She requested it. She let her guard down at the last second. She was the reason that he died. When it happened Ozpin told teams NPR and RWBY to skip classes for a while if need be, which they did. They had also hardly done anything over their break and it was now close to being over. He just wished that there was someway to help them.

* * *

Meanwhile on Sidewinder…

"Auug! Hey Grif!" Sarge grunted as he was being choked. "I've lost my shotgun! What an I gonna do without… my shotgun? Shotgun damnit!"

"Shotgun?" The overweight orange soldier asked. "Come on Simmons." He said as he ran over to the flipped Warthog.

"Aah… Hey Meta, settle a bet would ya? Does that thing kind of look like a big cat to you?" Sarge asked as he hooked a claw to the Meta and pointed his head at the car.

 **[Play: Ice Fight - By: Jeff Williams]**

The brute turned to look at what the red soldier was going on about when he saw two more soldiers pushing a warthog off the cliff.

"C'mon Grif, push!" one said.

"I am pushing!" replied the other.

The Meta then noticed that it's grapple was leading towards him and quickly looked down to see it's claw attached to his chestplate. The warthog then started to fall and he let out a terrified hiss as he was dragged to the ground. He released the red sim trooper and the capture unit flung off his back. While he was being dragged over the side, he grabbed the ankle of the orange one in either an act to save himself or to take the idiot with him.

"Guow!" he mumbled as he fell.

"Grif!" Simmons yelled as he jumped to save his friend.

He grabbed his hand and the sudden jerk made the monster of a man lose his grip. He let out another hiss which only meant one thing.

'Son of a biiitch!'

As the Meta was falling his life started to flash before his eyes. He saw the other freelancers, their missions together, and when he killed them. His heart jerked in pain as these events replayed in his mind. Sigma had brainwashed him... and having Omega just ended up making it worse. He had nothing. His friends? Gone. His life? Ruined. Washington? Just another traitor. He tried to save the AI, so if he somehow lived from this he would find them... and he would kill them both. Even though the AI were gone and dead... to him, they were very much still alive.

 _Go on_

 ** _Take it_**

 **Kill them**

Even though he eventually realized that Sigma was a complete, fucking, asshole, his life was over. He was a monster. There was no going back from it, and strangely enough, he didn't really care anymore. He deserved death more than anyone else, even Wash. Why fight it?

Just as he was accepting his fate, he noticed that the time-distortion unit was activating. 'Great…' he thought sarcastically to himself.

'Not only am I gonna die the same way I killed Carolina. I get to it in slow-mo... fucking perfect.'

Under the first notification however, a second one appeared which read:

 _*Transporting...*_

'Wait what?! Since when could it do that?!'

Right as he hit the water a huge flash of light emerged.

 **[Music end]**

* * *

"It started last night, but I just assumed that it was glitching out due to the storm." Ozpin told his assistant "However, the fact that it's still going on has me somewhat concerned."

"Agreed." Goodwitch responded. "Should we have some students investigate?"

"Yes. Please bring me Ms. Rose and Ms. Nikos."

Nora would have been the new leader because of the letter order… but she's Nora.

Goodwitch was shocked, and after a moment of silence she finally spoke.

"…Are you sure that's the best choice? I mean, team RWBY has, for the most part, been doing fine… But the others…"

Ozpin raised one hand and took a sip of coffee with the other.

"I understand your concern, but, I am hopeful that this will take their minds off that."

"If you say so."

* * *

The students were down at breakfast when the professor arrived. She paused for a moment after she saw Pyrrha. She looked as terrible as ever. Goodwitch then approached the teams.

"Good morning students."

"Good morning professor!" Ruby, Yang, and Nora shouted, the others just nodded at her.

"Excuse me but can I borrow Ms's Rose and Nikos for a little while?"

Everyone looked towards Pyrrha.

"S-sure." Ruby responded.

"Of course." the spartan girl agreed, they then followed Goodwitch.

"So uh…" Ruby whispered as they walked down the hall. "What do you think this is about?"

"No idea." Pyrrha answered, as they stepped into the elevator to go up.

"Good morning." Ozpin greeted them as they arrived. "I suppose that you would like to know as to why you are here?"

The girls nodded.

"There has been an energy fluctuation…" the headmaster explained as he showed them the chart on his scroll.

It was odd, it started small then shot upwards. Then back down, and shot up again. Something defiantly seemed off about it.

"It started last night but I just assumed in was a glitch from the storm. If you are inclined, I would like you and your teams to investigate."

"I'll go." said Ruby, then everyone turned towards Pyrrha.

"No problem." she said after a moment.

"Ms. Nikos." started the blonde professor. "If you don't feel comfortable with this, then by all means we can send another…"

"I-it's fine. We... need to get back out there eventually anyways."

"Very well." the headmaster started again. "The readings come from Forever Fall Forest. You may depart when ready."

* * *

The Meta woke up in a place that he didn't recognize. He grunted as he sat up.

'Aaugh… My head is fucking killing me.'

Another headache? He had been getting them ever since the E.M.P. went off, killing the A.I., but more importantly...

What is this place? A forest? Why is everything red? Standing up, he looked around and rubbed his head.

'The hell?' he asked himself as he looked down.

Sparks were coming off of it and it was covered in static. He then entered a command on his arm after he opened a hatch that was protecting a screen.

 _*Rebooting System...*_

* * *

"H-hey!" Ruby said after seeing the signal on her scroll suddenly stop, with Yang watching over her shoulder. "The signal's gone!"

"What did you do?" Weiss demanded.

"Hey hold on." Yang stepped in. "She didn't do anything. It just, stopped."

"Whatever." the ice-queen continued. "I guess now we'll just have to walk around aimlessly until we find something."

"What about that?" Nora asked.

Everyone turned to see what she was pointing at, which happened to be huge amounts of black smoke rising above the trees.

"Someone's fighting grimm?" Ren asked curiously.

"And they're completely destroying them." Blake added.

"Alright then!" her leader started. "Team RWBY let's investigate!"

"Shouldn't we looking for the energy fluctuation?"

"Well that could be it." Yang suggested. "Besides, I want to see whose beating the crap out of those things."

"Agreed." added Weiss.

"Okay then." Ren began. "You guys check that out while we keep searching this way. We'll let you know if we find anything interesting."

* * *

 **[Play: When Your Middle Name is Danger - By: Torcadero]**

The Meta ran into some creatures as he explored his surroundings. Some seemed to be giant scorpions and snakes, while others resembled either a bear or what he imagined to be werewolves. They had on some kind of armor around certain parts of their bodies, it was white with some red patterns. The beasts themselves were midnight black and for what ever reason, evaporated into smoke when they died?

Whatever, they were in his way to get back to Sidewinder and killing everybody there, so they must be dealt with. Another one of the bear like ones ran at him, so he put his fist in his hand and charged at it. The thing swatted at him but he jumped over it and ran his fist into its neck. It let out a roar of pain as it fell to the ground, he then brought his boot to it's head. He crushed it repeatedly until it cracked, before splitting in half and releasing a pool of blood onto the ground.

While he was doing so, a werewolf type charged at him, he grabbed it's neck when it arrived, breaking it and killing it instantly. At this time, team RWBY arrived and stared in awe as to what was happening in front of them.

"What is that thing?" Yang asked while the Meta turned to the other grimm.

"I-I don't know." Weiss winched as the Meta ripped of the top half of the snout of another Beowolf clean off.

After he tore another one in half, Yang then decided to cover Ruby's eyes with her hand. The hooded girl had no qualms about this being that she was disturbed by the sight. The Meta growled as he ran to a Deathstalker, he grabbed it's stinger as it tried to bring it down on his head. He then ran straight forwards and rammed it into it's own skull.

It screeched in pain and tried to cut him in half with one of it's pincers. He ripped it off and threw it like a javelin into an Ursa. Now the only things left were two more Beowolves, which turned and ran for their lives. The Meta let out another growl and charged.

"You think he's a huntsman?" Ruby asked nervously as they followed the man as he chased his prey.

"Possibly. But he seems, kind of… off." Blake stated, the others nod in agreement.

At this time the former freelancer had caught up to his targets and grabbed the fur on their backs. They let out terrified screeches as he pulled them back, spun on his heel, and sent them flying. He then walked to where they were lying and growled again.

"Seriously what's up with the growling? Are we sure he's even human?" Yang asked.

"Maybe he's an Atlas robot?" Ruby suggested.

"No, I've never seen a model like that before. This, is something else entirely." states Weiss as the subject of the conversation picked up both Beowolves by their throats, and snapped their necks like their comrade from before.

The mysterious character then dropped the evaporating bodies and started to wipe his gloves against each other when a King Taijitu came out from the trees. The armored man turned around and let out an annoyed growl before charging.

"Mabye it's a Grimm?" Yang voices, causing her teammates to give her looks. "What? I mean, we did learn in class that it's possible for people to transform into those things. Plus he has the white armor and has black underneath."

"Yang, that was a myth we learned. Along with the whole 'Queen of Monsters' thing. remember? People can't do that." Weiss argued. "Besides, even if he somehow was a Grimm, why would he kill the others?"

She had a point. Why would he kill his own kind?

"Maybe he remembers that he was once human?" Ruby suggested.

"Even if it was possible, then maybe, but still…"

Just then, the bloodcurdling screech of the monster reached their ears. The Meta had was standing in front of the two headed snake, one of it's bloody fangs from the black head in his grip. The un injured white head tried to snatch him in it's mouth, big mistake. The Meta allowed it's mouth to cover him, where he impaled it's tongue. The creature roared in pain as it pulled it's head from the ground, the ex-freelancer still standing in the same spot. Then the second head came back, so he jumped over it and landed on top, using his fist and knee the slam it into the dirt.

Again the other head tried to swallow him, again it failed. The Meta jumped out of the way and made the snake-like creature clamp down on it's other head, he then used the opportunity to punch the white head in the snout so hard that all of the bones inside broke and it's head caved in from the impact, also forcing it's fangs further into the black head's skull, killing them both in one blow.

As the King Taijitu faded into smoke, he noticed four more targets on his motion tracker

'You have got to be kidding me.' he thought to himself.

He turned to his new targets but they were… not what he had expected. They were what looked like teenage girls hiding behind a bush.

'What the fuck?'

They all swallowed hard as he looked down upon them.


	2. Chapter 2: Fight of the Century

The Meta kept staring at the girls, much to their discomfort. Why were there kids in a place like this? They live in here or something? Eventually the one in red slowly started to stand.

"U-um, H-hi." She said trembling in fear as she waived. "M-my name is Ruby a-and uh, these are my friends. Weiss, B-Blake, and my s-sister Yang. W-what's your name?"

She had addressed each one of the other girls by pointing at them when she said their names. They then slowly started to stand, as well as moved their hands towards their weapons in case this whole thing went south. The Meta noticed this and thought about just walking away. He had done some pretty terrible things in his life but he had never fought and murdered children, and he planned to keep it that way… he had more than enough nightmares already. He then remembered that he had no idea where in the galaxy he was, so he decided to try to communicate. He started walking towards the girl in the hood when her friends pointed their weapons at him. One looked like a brawler, one had a gun, and the other a rapier?

"Back off beast!" the white one snapped.

'Beast?' he thought to himself. 'Now that's just plain mean.'

Ozpin just had to call at the worst possible time. Ruby slowly grabbed and opened her scroll.

"Ms. Rose? Have you managed to find the source of the disturbance yet?"

'Washington?!'

So the little brats were friends with Washington huh?! The Meta started to clench his fists. Well let's see what the bastard does when he holds his little pets captive. Blake sensed the danger and shouted:

"Scatter!"

Ruby looked up to see a hand aiming for her, it gripped her cloak and ripped her from the ground, making her drop her scroll facedown.

"Let go of her!" Yang demanded and dried to punch the assailant, instead he caught her fist effortlessly and tossed her to the side.

He them oved his once again unoccupied hand to the cloaked girl's throat and began choking her with hardly any pressure applied. He turned his head and looked at the other girls and growled, hoping that they got the message when he pointed at Weiss' sword, and then the ground. Thankfully they did and Weiss and Blake dropped their weapons while Yang lowered her arms. But before the Meta could let go of Ruby, his wrist was slashed by Crescent Rose, forcing him to drop the teen.

The Red Reaper dropped to the ground, with her free hand rubbing her throat as she coughed and gasped for breath. He was about to pick her up again when a shotgun blast to his shoulder distracted him, undamaging, but it got his attention.

"You jerk!" Yang screamed as she punched her sister's attacker in his head.

It barley made him flinch.

 **[Play: Mental Meta Mental - By Jeff Williams]**

Well, apparently he has to fight after all... shit.

He grabbed her other fist as she tried to hit him again and threw her into Weiss. Blake shot at him but most of the bullets bounced off. He pulled both fists over his head and tried to smash her into the ground, she dodged and started shooting again. To her surprise he charged head first at her, rammed into her stomach, and smashed her into a tree causing her to scream in pain.

"What's happening?!" Ozpin yelled from the scroll.

The Meta was then hit by several shotgun blasts to the back and turned around to see Weiss launching herself at him with her sword aimed at his chest. He dodged to the side, grabbed her neck and slammed her into the ground. Yang then attacked him from the side, punching him repeatedly. He grabbed her arms, head-butted her, and threw her at Blake who used the whip on her weapon to catch her teammate. She grabbed it and Blake spun her back towards the attacker. The brawler hit him in the face and knocked him the the ground. Weiss launched fire at him and after he dodged, Yang assaulted him with a flurry of shotgun blasts and punches.

Taking the hits, the Meta started his own attacks. He punched Yang in the face, stomach, and both her sides before he jumped over her, grabbed her shoulders, and slammed her into the ground as he landed. He tried to step on her head but she rolled out of the way. If they wanted to die protecting Washington then fine! He'll kill them and then that son of a bitch for everything he's done, with using children as bodyguards now added to the list! Blake and Weiss attacked at the same time with their blades trying to hit the Meta several times but he kept dodging. He spun on his heel, kicked Weiss and sent her flying. He then grabbed Blake's weapon with his hand and pulled her towards him.

He punched her in the face and she lost her grip as she fell to the ground. The ex-freelancer spun it around and tried to stab it into the faunes' head. Before he could do so Ruby jumped in his back and put Crescent Rose around his neck. He stepped backwards, grabbed Ruby, and threw her off. Just as he stared to walk back to the scroll to see if he can track Washington his legs became engulfed in ice.

'What the hell is this shit?!' he asked himself.

He growled and threw Blake's weapon at the ice-queen. She jumped out of the way and the Meta smashed the ice on his legs with his fists. He then received a sniper shot to the shoulder and growled in anger as he turned to face where he was hit. Team RWBY was in a line, all their guns aimed at him. They opened fire and the Meta slammed his fist into the ground and activated the domed energy shield, the bullets bounced off… Some of them launched back and hit team RWBY.

"I guess that's his semblance." Weiss remarked.

Just as the shield was falling the Meta walked towards the teens and started disappearing. He completely vanished from sight.

"Wait what?!" they all yelled.

How could he have that thing and turn invisible?!

The four made a circle with their backs to each other. Unfortunately for them, they made it around their enemy. He punched Yang and Blake in the back of their heads, kicked Ruby's leg, and elbowed Weiss in the back. After they fell to the ground, he picked up Weiss by her sword arm with both hands. He snapped her elbow to the other side of her arm, successfully breaking it. She let out a terrifying scream before she passed out from the pain. Blake slashed at the brute but he used the ice-queen as a shield, he then threw her into the feline.

Yang and Ruby teamed up on the Meta, hitting him several times. He grabbed Yang's head and slammed her into a boulder, cracking the giant rock.

"Yang!" Ruby yelled and then tried to shoot him for doing that to her sister.

The Meta dodged, grabbed Crescent Rose from the hooded kid, and struck her with her own weapon. Blake and Yang attacked him but he spun the scythe and blocked everything. The Meta then clobbered the yellow haired one away like a baseball. Blake cut his hand which made him drop her friend's weapon and she transformed her own back into a gun and shot the mute several times.

Tired of all this crap he took a step forward, pulled his fist back, and delivered a bow to her ribs… breaking several of them. As she screamed he grabbed her leg and slammed her into the ground until her aura broke and the ground was cracking under her. Ruby sped to her friend, leaving a trail of rose petals in her wake. She struck him several times before he jumped out of the way. He lifted a boulder and chucked it at her, she quickly managed to get out of the way but was shot immediately afterwards.

The Meta had Gambol Shroud once again but this time in gun form. He continued to shoot at Ruby while she used her semblance to run around him in a circle. Eventually he ran out of ammo and growled in annoyance. Noticing his frustration, the red reaper ran at him with Crescent Rose raised above her head… that was a mistake. The brainwashed killer launched Gambol Shroud's sheath at her and while she was distracted, switched the actual weapon into blade form and also threw it at her.

The blade stuck in her cape and attached to a tree, rendering her helpless from the next strike. He once again charged head first and rammed her into the tree. But, unlike with Blake, the tree snapped and she went straight through it. She dropped her scythe so the Meta picked it up, slashed her side which made her let out a cry of pain, and she flung a few feet away from the blow.

'I'm starting to like this thing.' he thought to himself as he examined the weapon. After all, he would have to temporarily replace Brute Shot until he got it back.

He turned his attention back to Ruby who was holding her side, trying to stop the bleeding from where she was cut open. She looked up to see him towering over her, her own weapon in his hands. She closed her eyes and ducked her head to prepare for the blow… tears forming in her eyes.

 _ **Don't do it.**_

The Meta paused.

 **Quiet you fool! Don't listen to him, Meta, kill her!**

She's just a kid!

'All of you be quiet!' the Meta hissed.

 _They made their choice Agent Maine, end it._

The Meta growled and once again raised the scythe, slamming back down, but instead of hitting flesh, it made contact with metal. Yang had barley managed to save her sister from an attack that would have no doubt killed her.

"Stay the hell away from her you bastard!" Her eyes glowing red as she reloaded her gauntlets.

The brawler had hit his side and sent him sliding back.

Not sure how to turn it into sniper form, the Meta threw Crescent Rose and her with all his might and slashed her arm. He then charged at her but to only get struck in the face, forcing him into the ground.

'What's going on?! Why do her attacks hurt more now? And why are none of them dead yet?!'

Yang jumped at him trying to smash his head in but he rolled out of the way. He then stood up and grabbed her hair. He spun her around and kicked her back, launching her and pulling out a handful of her prized possession. She turned around and flames shot up from her body.

'Seriously what is with these brats?!'

He let out another growl as they both put their fists in their hands and ran towards one another. Yang landed hit after hit as well as shot her opponent several times. The Meta also landed multiple hits on his target. Neither of them blocked nor relented, this ended here and now! They stuck each others' faces.

 **[Music end]**

* * *

"No! No! No!" Pyrrha exclaimed as she watched the charts for Team RWBY's aura.

Weiss, Blake, and Ruby were at zero while Yang's was falling fast. No one in team NPR knew what was going on aside from the headmaster telling them that their friends were in danger.

"Ren where are they?!"

"Straight ahead!" the black haired boy responded.

When they finally arrived they were in complete shock. Ruby, Weiss and Blake were on the ground, the latter surrounded by broken earth, and someone was lifting Yang over their head. Their faces paled as the brute cracked the brawler's back over his leg. She let out a scream as she dropped to the floor. He was about to finish her when he got hit in the back with Nora's hammer, sending him flying. He crashed straight trough a tree and landed on his chest.

'Damnit! Will they ever stop coming?!' He growled angrily as he stood back up.

There were three more obstacles. A male, a pink female, and another red female who was bent down looking at the crumpled body of the yellow one. But when the new red looked up, the Meta froze.

'C-Carolina?!'

He fell to his knees and just stared at the deceased agent.

'... I'm in hell aren't I?' he asked himself.

"Umm… Pyrrha? Why's he staring at you?" Nora asked completely confused.

"Who are you?" Carolina asked as she stepped forwards and pointed her gun at him.

The Meta remained silent, he couldn't even feel his body.

'This is my punishment isn't it? I-I have to fight forever. I can never repay Washington or the damn AI, and now… Carolina's right in front of me.'

Team NPR couldn't see it, but under his helmet the Meta began to cry. He put his hands on his head and lowered it to the ground. His head began to hurt once more.

 **Kill them**

'No!'

 _FINISH THIS_

'Shut up!'

 _Agent Maine, remember what you've done_

 _Remember what you are_

 _ **...What WE are**_

Team NPR looked on in complete confusion as the man before them held his head and violently swung it back and forth.

"Is he insane?" Nora asked, which was odd because that was usually asked about her.

While they were watching, they couldn't notice a group of small, multi-colored people appear and gather around the man's head. The AI's were glitching, as well as their voices. But even so, they got his attention.

 _You've done terrible things in this life_

 _YOU CANNOT ATONE FOR YOUR SINS_

 _ **Don't let them be for nothing**_

Find Alpha

 _Find Washington_

 **Kill all who stand in your way**

 _Make us whole_

The remaining teens just continue to watch the event unfold, unsure of what to do or how to respond to the situation.

 **We**

 _ARE_

 _ **The**_

 _Meta_

This was the line. The line that pulled him back to the dark side. The Meta let out a growl as he stood back up, hands in fists at his side.

"What happened to him?" the spartan girl asked. "He looked like he was in pain just a second ago. Now he's acting like nothing's happened?"

"He looks unstable." her pink eyed teammate responded. "Like his mind is in complete chaos. But seeing as how he beat all of team RWBY, we shouldn't underestimate him."

"Agreed."

"Alright! Let's break some legs!" the final member yelled.

The Meta cracked his knuckles and neck as he approached them. Round two was about to begin.


	3. Chapter 3: Interesting Turns of Events

**Old Note: Okay before chapter #3 begins I would like to thank everyone for reading, as well as those who sent reviews! Unfortunately though I would also like to apologize. Because I'm new to the site I'm still trying to figure things out. That being said, I have absolutely no idea has to how to read them. XD Although I did manage to see two before adding the thing where they don't have to be approved. I also just realized that I've been spelling 'Pyrrha' incorrectly so I'll need to update and fix that.**

 **Okay begin!**

* * *

"Aauuh… I think I'm gonna be sick…" Grif moaned as he was regaining consciousness.

After he was yanked down by the Meta, Simmons had managed to grab his hand… but he slipped. He ended up stabbing the Bru-*ahem* Grif Shot into the side, but the next thing he knew he was waking up in a tree and felt nauseous. He moaned as he rolled over and fell out of the tree.

"GAAH!... Oww…" He screamed/said has he fell and hit the ground.

He stood up and looked at his surroundings.

"Where the hell am I? Why the fuck is everything red? Am I dead and in hell? Wait, Sarge?!"

He looked for his "leader" but couldn't find him anywhere.

"Nope, not in hell." He said as he started walking.

He then noticed his newly gained weapon just barely sticking out of a bush.

"You're here too eh?"

As soon as he picked it up he was startled by gunfire.

"Shit!" he yelped as he jumped back.

Grif looked in the direction of the noise.

"So, if it's there's a fight going on that way… Then I'm going this way."

He started to walk in the opposite direction when several grimm emerged from behind the trees.

"Uh…?" he gasped when they ran at him. "GAAAAH!" he shouted as he turned and "sprinted" in the other direction.

If he had the option to either get into another gunfight or to take his chances with whatever these things were… He's going take the gunfight, maybe then he won't die brutally.

* * *

 **[Play: Die - By: Jeff Williams]**

The Meta and Nora were fighting over Magnhild, neither of them gaining any leverage over the other. The ex-freelancer eventually gave up, he let go of the weapon, rolled out of the way, and retrieved Crescent Rose. Ren jumped and tried to kick the mute but he swatted him away. Nora ran back into the action as she tried to bash his head in, but he blocked it with "his" weapon. They clashed several times before the leg-breaking maniac stepped back and lowered her shoulder. Pyrrha then ran up and rolled over it, hitting the Meta with her shield when the girls exchanged places.

'Damnit!' he thought.

He didn't know how much longer he could keep going like this. He was tired. He had just finished off Texas when those simulation troopers arrived. After being dragged off the cliff he then had to fight a bunch of monsters, they didn't pose as a problem through. But now, he was fighting a bunch of super-powered children? Not to mention that the yellow haired one managed to break his overshield before her beat her. This was just ridiculous!

He swung the reaper tool at her several times but to no avail as she just kept pulling off backwards cartwheels. She eventually stopped and scythe met shield. She changed Milo back into it's gun form and shot his leg. As her opponent stepped back she used her semblance to pry Crescent Rose from his hands much to his confusion.

'Is she fucking Magneto?!'

The Meta let out a hiss, pulled his fist back, and tried to clobber who he thought was Carolina but she dodged and switched her weapon into javelin form striking him several times. At the same time the other two teens started running at him as well.

'Enough! I'm done with this!' he yelled inside his mind.

He growled and started activating the time-distortion unit. When it started up, his suit started sparking and overheating.

"Whats happening?!" Nora questioned.

"I don't know, but it looks bad." her childhood friend answered.

'Oww!' the Meta thought. 'Gamma, status report. … Gamma? Anyone?'

The unit then activated, freezing everything and the suit stopped malfunctioning.

'Let's finish this.' he snarled as he raised his fists over his head, bringing them down on Pyrrha's skull afterwards.

He then turned to Ren and Nora, grabbing their necks and bashing their skulls together as they stood side-by-side. He had then thrown them into a tree. When it deactivated, there were high levels of shock and confusion as Pyrrha was suddenly smashed and her teammates gained huge headaches and were sent flying.

"What in the…?" the invincible girl started.

She was getting up before a foot met with her spine and slammed her back down. Her attacker crushed her several times before aiming at her head. He was about to bring his foot down when there was a sudden disturbance in the bushes behind him. He turned his head to see a familiar "face".

 **[Music stop]**

Grif collapsed on the ground after running into view, panting for breath after only running for three hundred feet.

"I *huff*… give… *pant* up. *huff* Just *huff*… fucking… *pant* kill me…"

The Meta let out a surprised snarl when he saw the soldier. He put his foot down next to the girl's head and turned around to approach the gasping idiot. The one that stole his weapon. As he was walking, the Grimm showed their faces.

Ren and Nora ran back to Pyrrha only to find her slowly getting up, a new armored person on the ground, and the Meta stabbing a grimm with some sort of weapon.

"Pyrrha!" the two yelled as they ran to their friend.

"What happened?" asked Ren.

"I'm not sure." she responded.

"That orange guy came running and collapsed while some grimm were chasing him." they heard a familiar voice say.

"Ruby?!" they exclaimed as they looked at their friend. "Are you okay?!"

"I'll live." she replied.

Her cape was tied around her waist to hold the bleeding and she was using Crescent Rose to support herself.

"So do you think he's this guy's friend?"

Just then, the Meta grabbed Grif's head and started slamming him into a Beowolf.

"I'm gonna say that's a no." Ren replied.

"Either that or he's the worst friend ever. Of all time." Nora added.

The former freelancer dropped the overweight soldier to the ground and started blasting the grimm with his Brute Shot, killing them all. He then pointed it at Grif's head.

"Oh, son of a bitch…" the lazy soldier whined.

He almost had his head blown off when the Meta was suddenly hit with a launched grenade. He let out a growl and was sent backwards, RNPR then stood in front of the orange one.

"Huh?!" Grif was extremely confused as to why there were bleeding children protecting him. "What are you doing?"

"Umm… saving you?" Ruby said.

"Ya I got that. Thanks. It's not that I'm not grateful but why? Shouldn't you be running for your lives right now? I mean, if you have a death wish then fighting the Meta is the best way to do it. But I'm getting my ass out of here."

"The Meta? Is that some sort of code name?" Ren asked curiously.

"I guess. I didn't fucking name him." the orange soldier shrugged.

"Well who or what is he?" Pyrrha questioned.

"An ex-freelancer that turned into the scariest fucking mute in the galaxy that's what."

The subject of the conversation stood back up and let out a growl.

"Okay nice meeting you bye!" Grif said quickly and started running again.

The Meta shot a grenade at him, hitting the sim trooper's back and sent him back to the ground.

"WHY?!"

With another growl he proceeded to open fire on the teens.

They got out of the way of the oncoming attack and started to fire their own weapons. He tried to use the domed energy shield again but it wouldn't come online. He charged headfirst and jumped into the air trying to bring his weapon's blade on Ruby's head while she was checking on the now unconscious Grif. Knowing that she couldn't get away with those injuries, but he was met by Nora. When her hammer collided with his weapon, he noticed the Brute Shot crack.

'What the…?!'

Nora hit it again and it exploded due to the grenades that were inside. This also set off a chain reaction that blew up Magnhild as well.

"Nora!" her friends screamed as they ran to her, aside from Ruby who limped over.

The female Thor was knocked out. The explosions from both weapons made her and the Meta launch backwards making her remaining aura drop completely. The Meta somehow slowly started to rise much to all of their shock and horror.

"Why can't he just stay down!" Ruby screeched. "Is he just unbeatable or something?!"

He however was not. He had extreme pain all across his body. He has bleeding from the bullet holes in his suit and had multiple broken bones. He had to end this now.

With his bloodied suit and spiderweb-cracked helmet, the Meta forced his body into a sprit in an attempt the tackled someone and split their freaking head open, Ren also charging. When they were in range of each other, the Meta took a swing at the pink-eyed boy, but the attack failed to connect as Ren had jumped. The last letter in JNPR had managed to kick the brute in the face and the throat, making his opponent takes a few steps back and put a hand to his neck.

The Meta then tried to kick the teen but Ren ducked to the ground and slid one of his legs around and tripped the killer, making him fall to the ground. The Meta quickly got up as Ren tried to palm-strike him, he grabbed the black haired fighter's arm and threw him past Pyrrha and Ruby, but not before Ren kicked his chin, making the Meta's head snap back and knocking his helmet clean off his head.

 **[Play: The Path to Isolation - By: Jeff Williams]**

The brute rubbed a hand on his chin as he turned around. The remaining huntsman and huntress's eyes widened and face's paled as they saw his own.

"J-Jaune?…" Pyrrha whimpered.

It couldn't be him, she watched him die! But yet here he was, a completely different person from what he once was. His hair was longer but his bangs were trimmed to stay out of his eyes. They were now yellow instead of blue and his now visible neck had bullet holes in it. He was also bleeding from the mouth and nose. They stared in horror as he charged at them.

"Jaune wait!" Pyrrha screamed before she rolled out of the way of his attack. "Snap out of it! Please!"

Ren ducked his head and flung his arms around Jaune's waist to try to tackle him, but it failed. Jaune then ripped his former teammate off of him and chucked him into a the same boulder he smashed Yang's head into. He turned to Pyrrha and let out a growl.

"Jaune…" she said as tears fell down her face.

He ran at her and pulled back his fist. She closed her eyes and raised her shield before he could strike her and she slid back, her feet digging into the dirt. She opened her eyes right before she was struck in the face making her stumble back.

"Pyrrha!" Ruby screamed, as she was still using her scythe as a crutch.

However the Meta paid her no mind. The girl was broken anyways so he could force her to tell him where Washington was, Carolina on the other hand gave him Sigma. Sure it was to compensate for his loss of voice but it was her fault that he turned into what he had become.

As soon as the world stopped spinning for her she was met with another blow, to the stomach, a kick in the leg, and yet another blow to the head, knocking her to the ground. Unable to watch any further, Ruby activated her semblance and dashed at her first friend at Beacon, much to the overwhelming pain in her body. She hit him in the back of the head before she swung her weapon to his legs and tripped him from the speed of the strike. He grabbed her ankle while laying on the ground and pulled her down.

She hit her head and started whimpering. The Meta then stood back up and stepped on her chest. He started to press down and she screamed in pain before he was struck in the back by some sort of green lightning and was launched.

"That's enough." he heard Washington say.

Jaune had managed to stay on his feet and turned around to face the traitor, his eyes burning with anger as he let out yet another growl.

He was however surprised to not actually see him there. Instead it was an older man with a cane standing next to a woman that had a… magic wand in her hand? Now he's seen everything. The professors stared at him in silence.

"Is that…?" Glynda asked with her eyes wide.

"It would appear so." Ozpin responded. He had been trying to contact teams RWBY and NPR for a while before he went to search for them himself. He did not however, expect to see Jaune Arc beating the ever living crap out of his former friends as he arrived.

The Meta put his fist back in his hand and charged at them with a roar, only to get met with another attack from the headmaster and was knocked out instantly.

 **[Music end]**

Ruby and Pyrrha slowly got back up after watching what just happened, tears streaming down their faces.

"I-is, h-he…?" Ruby choked.

"I assure you that Mr. Arc is only taking a nap." Ozpin answered. "However I would like someone to explain what happened, as well as who that is." he pointed at Grif.

"Are you sure that's Mr. Arc?" Glynda questioned.

"I'd know my students anywhere." he said firmly. "Now would you be so kind as the bring a medic here?"

* * *

 **Old Note: One of the two comments that I have been able to see pointed out that this resembles an already existing fanfic called 'Metastability', I suppose I'll have to go read that now. Thanks to that I now realize that there is already one (maybe more, for that idk) story(s) where Jaune is the Meta, so I** ** **apologize to the writer of that story.** Originally I was actually going to make it Velvet because I thought it would be a massive plot twist because people would expect it to be either him or Ren in a story like this. I had already started writing short segments and ideas (hence why they are coming out so fast right now) but sadly couldn't really get a good story going for that. Plus in RvB they call Maine a he… So I chose Jaune. I also have at least one guaranteed plan in mind for Volume 3... And I may or may not end up making Grif related to someone. Let me know what you guys think and I'll keep trying to find the review list. Later. :D  
**


	4. Chapter 4: New and Old Friends

**Note: Okay, so by this time I have read several chapters in 'Metasability' and sweet biscuits it is kind of similar D:. Fortunately what I have planned so far doesn't seem to be the same as that story's direction; but I still apologize to** ** _Starlight's Poet_** **for the similarities during this beginning time.**

 **Okay begin!**

* * *

"What do you think James?" Glynda asked the cyborg as he examined the body of the Meta who was still unconscious and strapped to a bed in the infirmary.

It was after the incident that the headmaster of Beacon had requested that the general hurries over. He had told him that it was an emergency regarding one of his students, and that he had a little… gift, for him.

When he arrived, Ironwood asked what all the commotion was about and when Ozpin showed him… He was stunned. Naturally, he asked Ozpin if he had gone insane. Anyone would think that way when they saw the boy in the bed. He was shirtless with loads of scars covering his body. The most eye opening being the bullet wounds in his throat. Then there was the restraints…

The two professors told him everything Ruby and Pyrrha had to say, as well as what they had witnessed themselves. They mentioned how one of their doctors told them that Jaune seemed to have a… disruption inside his head and that they couldn't figure out what in the world it was. He was then shown the suit and was completely fascinated before returning his gaze to the Meta.

"This is quite the tale." the general stated. "I will have some of my own doctors look into it, as well as get my personal team to take a look at the armor. As for this soldier though, I don't believe that I have a 'Dexter Grif' in my ranks; and I certainly have never heard of Red and Blue teams."

"Nor have I." the older man said. "But I do believe that he is indeed telling the truth. Odd as it may seem."

Ironwood shot him a questioning look. "You believe that there is a war going on that we don't know about? As well as all this talk of traveling to other planets?"

Goodwitch actually sided with the general for once in her life. It all sounded absurd.

"If he has no reason to lie then why would he?" Ozpin retaliated with a question of his own. "Especially when he knows it won't get him anywhere or get him anything."

* * *

Thankfully for NPR Grif didn't snore. Ozpin had asked if he could stay with them for the night seeing as how they have an extra bed at the moment. Although they did find it weird as to how he slept in full armor and that he did so as soon as he laid down. When Grif was no longer unconscious from the fight he found himself on a Bullhead, the headmaster of Beacon asked him a few questions but everyone was surprised when the orange soldier suddenly exploded.

"NO! We answer my questions first! The fuck am I?! The fuck is all this?! The fuck are you?! And why do you sound like that damn freelancer?!"

It was a looong conversation.

Pyrrha had actually managed to get some sleep being as exhausted as she was, but she had gotten up right before the crack of dawn. She slipped out of her pajamas and into her signature outfit before heading out the door. Pain gripped at her shoulder and back as the walked down the hall and towards the infirmary. Fortunately for her, she was the least injured of them all.

Nora had a few burns and bruises but was fine for the most part. Ren had a concussion and a sprained ankle. Ruby had to get stitches for the gash in her side and could hardly walk on her right leg. Yang's head was pretty much dented behind her bangs, had fractured her hand, and if her aura had gone out any sooner, a broken back. Weiss' left arm was broken and had to be snapped back into place. Finally, four of Blake's ribs were broken and she had a black eye.

Ironwood, Glynda, and Ozpin were all exiting the infirmary when the spartan girl arrived.

"Good morning." she said.

"Good morning Ms. Nikos." Glynda responded. "Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

"I-I… wanted to see Jaune."

"I don't think now is the best time…"

"Now Glynda." Ozpin placed his hand on her shoulder. "Mr. Arc has been presumed dead for over a month now. I think that she should at least be able to visit for a short while."

"Are you sure? I mean after all that's happened…"

"I'm sure." he responded calmly. He returned his gave to his student. "But I would like for you to wait until later today when we have a little more information regarding his… condition."

* * *

It was close to noon when Grif finally woke up.

"That was the best sleep I've had in years." he said happily. He sniffed the air "I smell food."

He got up and followed the scent. When he arrived in the cafeteria everyone except teams RWBY and NPR were in complete shock. What's a fully armored soldier doing there? Or even inside the school for that matter? He filled up a tray and approached the teams.

"Sup losers." he said as he sat down.

Everyone stared at him as he started to eat underneath his helmet.

"Umm… Wouldn't it be easier to eat with that off?" Yang asked while pointing at it with her good hand.

"Nah I'm used to it."

"Why's that?" Ruby asked.

"The air back on Blood Gulch is toxic." he explained. "So we had to learn to keep our helmets on at all times. Well except for my sister. For whatever reason she's fucking immortal."

"Would you stop that?!" Weiss snapped angrily.

"Stop what?"

"With all the swearing! Seriously it's really annoying!"

It hasn't even been a full day since they had met him and yet by her count he had already sworn one hundred and eight times.

"Yeah? Well so are you ice-queen." he retorted.

"Excuse me?!"

"*Ahem*" Glynda said as she stood behind him. "Mr. Grif can I please borrow you for a moment? Ozpin would like a word."

"TEX?!" he shrieked as he dropped his fork and whipped around.

He then proceeded to cover his crotch with both hands, much to the amusement of several students. This was his first time that he had heard the professor's voice as she had remained silent on the trip inside of the Bullhead.

* * *

"If you don't mind I would to continue our conversation from yesterday." Ozpin said as the two entered his office.

"Uuuag… Fine." the sim trooper sighed.

"You had said that the last thing you remember is hanging off a cliff, and that the next thing you knew you were in Forever Fall?"

"Pretty much."

"Can you tell me what happened right before that?" Ozpin asked, his chin resting on his hands.

"Well, the Meta had actually just stabbed Tex in the face right before we got there. After that me, Tucker, Simmons, and Sarge ran at him."

He had mentioned all of the Blood Gulch crew the day before, as well as how Washington had turned on them and killed Donut.

"Tucker was basically useless before Sarge hooked the Meta to the warthog's cable while Simmons and I pushed it off a cliff." he continued. "He was sliding past us on the ground when he grabbed my ankle and dragged me off with him. Then you already know the rest."

After he concluded the story there was silence for a bit before Ozpin spoke again.

"What if I told you that this 'Meta' was one of my students?"

More silence.

"You're shitting on my remaining sanity." Grif said.

"I am not." the headmaster insisted.

"You're telling me that the Meta, the scariest, motherfucking mute in the galaxy, and the guy who threw a warthog at my head… Is a fucking teenager?"

"It would appear to be that way." Ozpin replied calmly.

"What the hell kind of a school are you running here?"

"He went missing a little over a month ago." Glynda explained. "He is a completely different person than who he was before."

"That doesn't explain anything." Grif started again. "From what that traitorous son of a bitch told us, he's been like that for years."

"How is that possible?"

"Beats me, but I think that I've been through and heard enough dumb shit in my life that I'm going to stop questioning things."

The headmaster's computer then started to buzz.

"I have some… news regarding the boy." the general of Atlas said when Ozpin answered.

"What kind of news?" the older man asked.

"You know how Atlas has been trying to create artificial intelligence correct?"

"Terrible idea." Grif said immediately whilst crossing his arms.

"Who was that?" Ironwood asked from the PC.

"The soldier I had previously mentioned. But yes, I have." Ozpin answered.

"Why is that a 'terrible idea'? If we could make such devices we might be able to decrease the loss of human lives on the battlefield."

"Or they could go ape-shit and screw up life." the orange sim trooper argued.

"Back to the question you originally asked." Opzin said, returning to the reason Ironwood had called in the first place.

"Of course. We've taken a look inside his head, and it's a complete mess. It has many more brainwaves than the average person."

"What does that mean?" the more strict professor asked.

The general let out an annoyed sigh. "It means, that someone has already beaten me to my project."

"Are you saying that he has A.I. in his head?" Ozpin asked.

"Yes and no." Ironwood explained. "They are no doubt AI, but they've been severally damaged. As to why I cannot say."

"They? As in more than one?"

"Yes. Nine to be exact."

The two professors from Beacon were stunned, no wonder he went nuts.

"Can you remove them?" Goodwitch asked.

"Lady if there was a way to do that then I don't think that we would've had to emp his ass." Grif reentered the conversation.

"You mean E.M.P.?"

"No I mean emp. Seriously does nobody know how to say that?"

"Well," Ironwood started again, ignoring Grif. "There are some metallic devices in the back of his neck. They could be implants, but I don't understand why someone would do something like that. I'll have to do further tests before we decide anything."

"Very well." the headmaster of Beacon started again. "But I did promise that some students could pay him a visit this afternoon."

* * *

"Has he woken up at all?" Ren asked as they were about to enter the infirmary.

"Not so far, but we have sedated him to keep it that way for now." Ozpin informed them.

The two professors agreed to do that so Jaune wouldn't wake up when team RWBY and the rest of JNPR visited him. Because from what they've seen and heard, he could easily break out of his restraints and probably kill them.

"I would also like to warn you that he doesn't look pretty. I would rather not show you at all… but you deserve to know what's happened to your friend."

When Ozpin opened the door every one of the student's faces lost all color. Pyrrha, Weiss, and Yang's hands covered their mouths while everyone else just stood there, to shocked to move. Jaune was no longer strapped to the chair seeing as how Ozpin thought his appearance was enough strain on them already.

The friendly leader of JNPR turned brutal killer was laid back in the reclined medical bed, his head turned to show the bullet wounds in his throat. He was still shirtless and had what looked to be a newly burned hole in his chest, some slash marks, as well as several more holes from where he had been shot in the torso and shoulder. He wasn't as big as he was when they had first re-met him but he didn't have on the bulky armor either. He had defiantly gained muscle though.

"A-are you sure that's him?" the ice-queen questioned.

"Yes I'm sure." the headmaster responded. "We ran some blood tests just to check and they came back positive."

The teens just kept staring, tears threatening to fall from Pyrrha, Ruby, and Nora's faces.

"I know this isn't how anyone wanted him to come back, but the bright side is that he is indeed alive. As for what he's been through I cannot say."

* * *

"I think it's about time you kids get to bed." Ozpin said after they had been there for several hours

He had told them nothing regarding what actually happened to their friend seeing as he didn't know the full story himself.

"But…" Ruby started.

The headmaster raised his hand.

"You may visit again tomorrow if you so wish, but for now you should get some rest."

The two teams all nod as they head outside, Pyrrha being the last to exit after turning around to look at her crush one more time. Ozpin called Atlas' headmaster on his scroll.

"They just left, you may begin the procedure when ready."

"Alright." the cyborg responded. "There is no guarantee that this will help him though."

"I'm willing to try."

"Very well then. We'll begin as soon as we get down there."


	5. Chapter 5: What In the?

**Note: OVER 1,500 VIEWS! SWEET MOTHER OF MIKE! SERIOUSLY THANK YOU GUYS FOR ALL THE VIEWS AND SUPPORT THUS FAR! I hope that I can continue to make the story enjoyable for you all. :D (You'll understand the chapter's name when you read everything that's going on.) Okay begin!  
**

* * *

"What do you think happened to Jaune?" the leader of team RWBY asked as they laid in their beds that night.

"I'm not sure Rubes." her older sister replied. "But whatever it was, it looks like it was really bad."

"I'm more worried about Pyrrha." Weiss chimed in. "I mean, a month after the idiot 'died'," she made quotations with her hands. "She finally told us what happened, and when she did she had a melt down and kept blaming herself for it. Now the guy's back and nearly killed us all without batting an eye."

"That's true, but he wasn't himself though. Like Ren said, there seemed to be something completely wrong with him."

"Maybe we should ask Grif." Yang suggested.

"And why would we do that?" the ice-queen asked with a hint of disgust in her voice.

"Well he knows vomit boy somehow, so maybe he has at least some idea. So it couldn't hurt."

"Then it's settled, we go talk to Dexter in the morning!" their leader announced happily.

* * *

"Well?" Glynda asked. "How did it go?"

It was twenty minutes after the surgery took place. Immediately after Ironwood got the results he set off to report the news to the two professors.

"I've been told that the removal of the units was a success… but there is another problem." he said.

Ozpin raised a brow "What kind of problem?"

"Remember how I said that the kid had nine AI?"

"Yes."

"Well there were only seven units in his head, not to mention that only two of those seven can actually be restored from the E.M.P. Dexter had mentioned. The two that don't seem to have actually been implanted had to be stored into devises of our own, but they are also capable of being fixed. However that's not the main concern. Because they were inside his head, the blast didn't fully kill them."

"What are you talking about?" Glynda asked in a worried tone.

"While at least five of the nine are literally gone… they don't seem to be mentally."

"So he's imagining that they're still there?" Ozpin asked.

"Precisely. They aren't still active but he believes them to be."

"Is there anyway that he can be helped in that regard as well?"

"Other than therapy I have nothing to tell you." Ironwood shrugged. "I honestly don't know if he can be. He will likely have multiple personalities inside his head."

* * *

It was eight o'clock when team RWBY got up. Ruby, Weiss, and Yang were all ready to head out while Blake was still in bed.

"You coming?" the brawler asked.

"No, I'm just going to lay here a little bit longer. You guys go on ahead." said the faunus.

"Are you okay?" asked the team leader.

"Yeah, it's just… that it kind of hurts to move right now."

"Okay then, we'll let you know what we find out."

With that the other three turned and walked out. Blake hadn't told them a complete lie. She was in pain and it did only hurt worse to move… but more importantly, she had something else on her mind at the moment.

* * *

"DEXTER!"

*knock knock knock*

"Ruby at this point I doubt he's in there." Yang said whilst crossing her arms as Ruby started banging on the door.

Ozpin had given Grif a small unused shack behind the school as a place to stay seeing as he didn't want them NPR to keep sharing their room... He also decided that it would be a little better to keep him away from Glynda, for all three of their sakes.

*BANG BANG BANG*

"Are you five?" Weiss asked mockingly. "I agree with Yang. If he hasn't answered between your yelling and constant knocking by now I don't think he's even here."

"Where would he go though?"

"I don't know. Even if he doesn't look like it he's a soldier, he's probably doing drills or something."

"I guess your right." Ruby said defeated.

They all started to walk away as the door opened.

"What do you want?" asked Grif.

"Oh, hi!" Ruby turned around and waved.

"Wait." started Weiss. "If you were in there, why didn't you answer sooner?"

He shrugged. "Um, because I didn't want to."

Weiss scoffed.

"Also I was asleep… so thanks for that." he said, obviously annoyed.

"Sorry." Ruby apologized as she looked down.

"You don't have to be rude." Yang commented.

"Um, have you met me (him)?" the orange soldier and ice-queen asked at the same time.

"Anyway what's up?"

"We were wondering if you know what happened to Jaune." the little reaper said.

"Who?"

"The big guy in white. You called him something with an 'M'."

"The Meta?" "Yeah that!"

"No clue."

"Well that was immediate." Yang commented.

"Look," Grif started. "I'm going to tell you what I told those teacher people. I don't know what he went through, I only know what I've went through because of his shit."

"What did he do to you then?" Ruby asked a bit concerned.

Grif held up his hand and started counting on his fingers. "He reunited me with my sergeant and the Blues, shot at me, threw a Warthog at my head…"

"He threw a pig at you?" Weiss asked a bit confused. "Also how is reuniting with your sergeant a bad thing? And who are the Blues?"

"That's what we call our cars, I have more bullet holes from my sergeant then from battle and a little over half of the suffering in my life is because of that bastard alone, and the Blues are a bunch of dumb assholes who are the cause for the rest of my suffering." he explained.

"Your sergeant's shot you?" Yang asked a bit taken back.

"Multiple times. He's also ordered Donut and Simmons to shoot and or poison me several times… which they did. Not to mention the five AM drills and boring meetings. Oh, and most of the plans he makes involves him wanting to kill me."

"The drills and meetings I can understand… BUT HOW HAS THAT GUY NOT GOTTEN COURT-MARTIALED?!" Weiss screamed.

"Because our army sucks hairy balls." Grif stated crudely. "They even once gave use rocket launchers with no rockets."

Yang covered Ruby's ears. "Could you not say stuff like that in front of her?" Yang asked.

"So me swearing is fine but that's not?"

"Yeah, she's already used to that because of our uncle."

"Why does anything else I say matter then? She goes around with a fucking scythe-gun and kills giant monsters."

"She's still fifteen though!"

"So what? You wanna know what I did when I was fifteen? Everyday, after cleaning up animal crap at the circus; I'd go to my room, turn off the lights, grab my laptop, and…"

"LET'S STOP THERE!" Yang yelled.

Ruby pushed her sister's hands off her head.

"Hey!" she exclaimed. "I can have adult conversations too." She proceeded to cross her arms. "I drink milk."

"So does Caboose." the orange sim trooper remarked. "He's also a fully grown man with the mental capacity of a five year old. Oh hey, can I borrow some money?" he asked, going completely off topic.

"Why?" the Schnee heiress questioned. "Don't you have any?"

"One, where would I keep it? And two, I want to get some beer and oreos."

"You are not using my lien to buy alcohol!"

"What are oreos?" Ruby asked.

Grif was stunned. "You're joking right?"

"I've never heard of that either. Is it a snack or something?" Yang added.

Grif desperately turned to Weiss who just shrugged. Grif stood completely still for a while. "… Gotta go bye!" he yelled as he dashed off.

"What was that about?"

* * *

It was now seven PM. Ironwood and his personal research team had spent almost the entire day back on his Bullhead trying to revive just one A.I., so far they've had no luck. The general sat, placing his hand on his chin and thought to himself.

'Whoever managed to create the AI must have been through hell if we can't even manage to fix just one.'

"Sir," one of the scientists addressed him, an amount of worry in his voice.

"Yes?" Ironwood looked up.

"We a… managed to revive one sir."

"You have? Then what's with the upset tone?"

"See sir, it's just, um…"

"Get on with it."

"Yes sir. Well, it's gone."

"What do you mean 'it's gone'?" the Atlas headmaster asked a bit angrily.

"Well, right after we brought it back online… it just vanished. I'm guessing that it jumped into one of our systems."

"How is that possible?"

"It was one of the two that didn't seem to have been implanted, so it might be able to jump into close range electronics." he guessed.

Ironwood stood up.

"I want every part of this ship checked, I don't want an AI of unknown origin inside my Bullhead's systems." he ordered.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and began to check computers, equipment, Etc…

* * *

Team RWBY was back in their room, with Weiss getting ready for the upcoming semester, Blake was reading on her bed, Yang was brushing her hair, and Ruby was watching a show on her scroll while wearing her headphones.

 **"That was close."** the leader heard a voice say. **"I refuse to set foot in another laboratory for as long as I live."**

"Huh?" Ruby asked confused while watching a small virtual soldier appear on her screen.

 **"Oh, shit."** it remarked as it noticed her staring at itself.

The small figure then ran at the energetic teen and entered her head, making her yelp. "Herg urk!"

"Are you okay?" her sister asked as her teammates all looked at their leader.

"I'm fine." she said, no-one taking notice that her silver eyes had flashed white for a second. "I think my scroll just had a glitch because I somehow started watching two shows at once."

 **'Interesting…'** the voice said again, but only she could hear it. **'How does such a small child possess this much power? I can regain my strength here, and then use this glorious power to send everything into OBLIVION!'**

Ruby turned off her scroll. "I'm going to try to get it fixed in the morning."

Grif then busted open the door.

"SOMEONE GIVE ME THEIR GUN!" he shouted, startling everyone.

"What happened?! Are we under attack?! Etc…" they all panically asked as they pulled their weapons out.

No-one had seen the soldier ever since he ran off in the morning, but now he was standing in the doorway, panting heavily, dirt and mud staining his armor.

"MUCH WORSE THAN BEING UNDER ATTACK!"

"What's worse than that?!"

At this point, team NPR and several other students came out of their rooms to see what the chaos was about.

"I REFUSE TO LIVE IN A WORLD WITHOUT OREOS!" Grif shouted.

"Wait," Yang questioned, lowering her arms. "The things you talked about this morning?"

"YES!"

"Are you wanting to kill yourself?!" Weiss asked, a horrified look on her face.

"… Maybe."

All their faces paled as they quickly pulled their weapons away. Ruby started to chuckle a little bit.

"RUBY!" Yang yelled. How could her sister laugh at the situation?!

"I'm sorry." she apologized. "But this is because of a snack?"

Teams RWBY and NPR managed to calm down Grif in RWBY's room after he went on a rant as to why oreos are the best thing ever, Ruby basically exploded after learning about a type of cookie she had never heard of, and Blake questioned what Grif had meant when he said "in a world without oreos".

"Haven't you always been in the same world?"

"Actually, where are you from anyways?" asked Yang.

They could have sworn that they heard him mutter "Shit" under his breath. He ended up saying the first kingdom he remembered from what Ozpin had told him about Remnant.

"Vacuo."

That turned out to be the perfect choice.

"I guess that explains why I've never seen the armor before." said Weiss.

"And Vale and Mistral's don't look anything like it." added Pyrrha.

Blake had never seen it before either, so Grif had actually managed to do something right for once… Other than getting the Meta thrown off a cliff or being a distraction. Ozpin had requested that he didn't mention the fact that he came from space, seeing as how he didn't want to start more of an uproar than there already was.

* * *

The Meta woke up somewhere else that he didn't recognize.

'Great, another new place.' he thought to himself.

He looked around and noticed several machines hooked up to him.

'Am I in a hospital?'

He tried to get up but felt the restraints, he let out a growl as he ripped them off. He rubbed the back of his neck and realized that the AI units were gone.

'What?!' he growled angrily.

He looked around but couldn't find them or his armor anywhere. While he looked, he ended up stepping on something metallic, it was one of the units, it looked semi busted but seemed like it still might work. He put the unit back in and walked until he passed by a mirror.

'What. The. Hell?'

The Meta was shocked. Somehow, someway, the time-distortion unit… made him younger? He still had all his muscle and scars, but he was what, sixteen or seventeen again?

'First magic kids, then Washington, then a younger Carolina, now I'm a kid again... What the fuck is with this place?'


	6. Chapter 6: Welcome To Maine

**Note: Longest one so far! :D [(Update) Okay so I got rid of the (Play *blank*) stuff because it ended up getting on my nerves lol... That's it bye!] [(Update of the update) I brought it back lol.]  
**

 **Okay begin!**

* * *

After the Meta was done looking at his reflection he tried to walk out the door but couldn't open it. Was it locked from the outside? He tried to punch a hole in it but there was apparently an energy shield or something protecting it.

'You have got to be kidding me.' the brainwashed killer thought to himself.

The Meta then took several steps backwards, turned to the side a little, and ran straight through the wall. Once he was out of the infirmary he found himself in a hallway with giant windows. The former freelancer looked outside to find that he was a few stories up in a building that looked like it was part of a castle with more teens walking around in the daylight.

'Seriously, where the hell am I?' he asked himself.

He walked for a short while before coming up on what looked like a… classroom?

'I'm in a school? This shit is getting more and more ridiculous.'

* * *

"Please stop!" the Meta heard a voice beg.

The killer walked around the corner to find four male teens picking on a girl with… bunny ears?

"What a freak!" he heard one of them exclaim.

"Wonder if she'll fit in my hat!" another laughed.

Maine remembered being picked on in his first weeks of Project Freelancer by South so the sight made his blood boil… maybe he could even get her to explain where he was in the galaxy and what's going on after he helped her.

 **[Play: When Your Middle Name is Danger - By: Torcadero]**

The four bullies just continued laughing and pulling on the girl's ears, completely unaware as to what was about to happen.

"Hey, if we take her foot we'll get good luck right?" Sky taunted.

"Sounds good to me." Cardin said.

Suddenly a shadow appeared over their heads and Velvet's face went completely white as team CRDL heard a menacing growl behind them.

"What the…?" their leader started as they turned around.

When they saw who it was, their faces too lost all color.

"J-Jauney boy?!"

'The fuck you calling "Jauney boy" bitch?' the Meta thought as he gave a smirk and cracked his knuckles.

He punched what seemed to by the group's leader straight in the face, making him let go of the girl, and sending him flying into a wall.

"Cardin!" his friends yelled, they then turned and pulled out weapons.

"You'll pay for that!" the one with dual daggers yelled as he ran towards him.

Russel tried to stab the once, well… pretty much sucky fighter but was dodged and kicked in the side of the head. Both Dove and Sky charged but they were jumped over and the Meta basically did the same thing that he did to Yang, but instead of grabbing their shoulders he grabbed their heads as he slammed them down. Cardin took a swing at him but Jaune grabbed his morning star midway and flung him in a half circle, slamming him into the ground.

The other three tried attacking him as they jumped in the air, which was beyond dumb on their part. Maine threw Cardin's weapon and hit Russel in the balls, he then jumped in the air himself and grabbed Dove and Sky's faces, slamming them into the ground… again. Cardin tried to punch his attacker but was blocked and kicked in the head. He stumbled back as the world around him spun.

'What's going on?!' he thought angrily.

As soon as his vision fixed he took a blow to the stomach, then the leg, then got German suplexed. Now the only one left was Russel, who was still clutching his nuts. The bully heard a growl and looked up, seeing the former weakling holding Cardin's mace again.

"Son of a…" he whimpered before getting smacked in the face and sent through a wall.

 **[Music stop]**

'Hmmp.' the victor thought. 'For bullies they really suck, especially when compared to the other brats.'

The Meta threw the mace to the side and turned to face Velvet. She just stood there, awestruck. Not only was Jaune alive, but he just beat the ever loving crap out of CRDL. He started walking towards her but stopped when he recalled the incident in the forest, he pointed at his throat and growled.

"I-I…H-h…" the faunus tried to speak but couldn't manage to get a single word out.

Eventually, Jaune gave up and was getting ready to walk away when he heard a voice call out:

"Velvet!"

* * *

Ruby, Pyrrha, and Weiss were on their way to check on their friend in the infirmary while everyone else was still eating breakfast when they heard what sounded like fighting. When they arrived they had seen Velvet looking as though she had seen a ghost, a human sized dent in the wall behind her, and a knocked out Cardin. When they started running over, they heard yelp of pain as Russel went crashing into the room next to them.

"Guess someone's giving them what they deserve." the invincible girl said.

 **"Sounds like fun!"** Omega laughed, his voice overlapping with Ruby's.

Her friends just stared at her.

"What?"

Just as Weiss opened her mouth to answer they heard a growl. Thinking that a grimm had somehow gotten inside, they pulled out their own weapons as they ran towards the bunny girl. She didn't even look at them when Ruby called her name.

'Oh, you have got to be kidding me!' the Meta yelled in his mind when he had seen two of the kids from the forest again along with Carolina.

Seeing as how they had their weapons out and he didn't have armor on… this didn't seem like it was going to end well. He still had pain in his body from when they first met, but the teens looked mostly healed? HE EVEN FREAKIN' BROKE THE WHITE ONE'S ARM! How long was he out of it?!

"J-Jaune?!" they screamed.

'Seriously, again?' he thought.

Omega was surprised as well as amused. **'So Maine lives…'**

Jaune knew that this was basically suicide, but he had no other options. He picked up Dove's unconscious body and threw it at the group before charging head first at them while they were distracted. Before they knew what was happening Jaune lowered his shoulder and suddenly jerked back up, launching Pyrrha over him. Ruby and Weiss grabbed his arms to get him to stop but he pulled himself away and hit their heads together before kicking them back.

He ran down the hall as Pyrrha launched Akouo at him. He grabbed it before it hit him and he spun around before throwing the shield back. The Mistral champion slid on her knees and tilted her head back to dodge underneath it and then used her semblance to retrieve the shield. Ruby and Weiss sped past her using their semblances and kicked the escaping patient in the back, forcing him to do a front roll.

Weiss tried to freeze his legs like before but he jumped out of the way and she instead froze Ruby's.

"Friendly fire!" yelled the red reaper.

"You're the one who got in the way!" replied the ice-queen.

Weiss turned back to Maine who tried to punch her but she ducked underneath his swing. She swung at his back as he stepped by and was shocked when she realized she actually cut him open.

"Oh my gosh I'm sorry!"

Where was his aura? It should have protected him. Her apology was met by a roundhouse kick that she blocked with her arm. Pyrrha then ran up and jumped in his back but like with Ruby, he grabbed her and flung her off. Weiss tried to stab his leg to stop him but he spun around and elbowed the back of her head before he ran towards Ruby, who was trying to get the ice off her legs.

 **[Play: Slingshot - By: Torcadero]**

The Meta yanked her scythe from her hands, seeing as how he seemed to favor it and turned back to the others.

"Hey that's mine!" the hooded girl opposed as he ran at her friends.

He swung at the Schnee heiress but she jumped on the flat end of the weapon and kicked his face before the spartan girl opened fire. He held up Crescent Rose to block and ran straight at them. He slashed at Pyrrha several times, with her dodging each one, before he kicked her in the chest and sent her back.

He then attacked Weiss who blocked each swing with Myrtenaster before he punched her face and spun around and hit her hand, knocking her weapon into the air. The Meta swung at her again but she backflipped over the attack and reclaimed her weapon, striking him several times before knocking her leader's weapon away and kicking him back.

He looked back to the weapon and put his fist in his hand before charging at her and missing several punches while she landed each slash, one going into his chest. He grabbed the blade and ripped it out as she was holding it and she let go as he tried to deliver a blow to her head. She jumped in the air and spun before getting to the ground and tripping him.

She once again tried to freeze him before he rolled out of the way, he then slammed his fists into the ground and ran back towards Crescent Rose. He found the button to change it to it's gun form and then shot at her, Weiss using her glyphs to get around faster and run on the walls to dodge.

While he was distracted, Pyrrha ran up and bashed him with her shield; knocking him off balance and making him stumble back. She proceeded to shoot at him but he had managed to grab an lightning dust vile off Weiss when she tripped him and threw it into the ground, the electric shock hitting them both and the smoke making her unable to see him.

She turned around and the Meta swung Crescent Rose's scythe form with so much power that he managed to cut Milo in half before grabbing her arm and ripping away Akouo. The Mistral champion used her semblance to pry away "his" scythe and proceeded to engage in close quarters combat. He tried to punch her but she dodged and they both turned around as she stuck his chest, then face, then several more blows to the chest, and a final punch in the face… the last one being the only one to do damage.

She tried to punch him again but he stuck up his arm and blocked it, punched her face making her head snap back, and then hit the unhappy place, making her step back a few feet. He then ran up and Pyrrha blocked the next two strikes before he struck her chest then delivered an uppercut. He then punched her face and jumped, rolling on her back as she tried to strike, and kicked her away.

She tried to get up but the mute grabbed her ankle and pulled her in an arc over his head, slamming her back down. She kicked his face to make him let go and pulled herself back up. The invincible girl threw a kick that he blocked, then a knee that was also blocked before he nailed her in the face again. He then ran up as she stumbled back, jumped and clobbered her head again knocking her to the ground several feet away.

Weiss used her semblance again to launch herself at the guy who once tried his best for her attention after she freed Ruby, she was about to jab his chest with the hilt of her rapier when everything suddenly froze.

'What the heck?' he asked himself. 'How did time-distortion activate without my suit? This doesn't seem physically possible.' Then he heard a familiar voice.

 _"KNOCK KNOCK."_

A blue AI then appeared in his line of vision. It looked somewhat glitchy and sounded like a talking computer.

'Gamma?! Finally, about time **(pun intended… I regret nothing)** one of you guys came online! But how are you doing this?'

 _"I AM NOT SURE MYSELF. BUT YOU SHOULD TAKE CARE OF THIS FOR THE MOMENT."_

'Oh, right.'

The Meta then took Myrtenaster away from the ice-queen and slashed her with all his might. Time then resumed and she let out a scream of pain as she was sent flying back into a wall nearly breaking it, her chest cut open.

The Meta walked towards her and spun the dust dial around in her weapon before Ruby appeared in front of him and shot him until she ran out of ammo, each bullet going into his flesh. Maine then hissed and looked at his wounds before he fell on his knee, using Myrtenaster to keep himself up.

 **"Gotcha."** Omega/Ruby said as they smirked.

While the AI of rage enjoyed the power Agent Maine had given him and loved the fact that they got to kill everybody… He HATED the fact that he was basically used as a puppet and I mean, he IS the AI of rage after all so what'cha gonna do?

The Meta stood back up almost immediately to the both of their annoyance.

 **"Okay seriously, what the fuck?"**

Omega knew about the former freelancer's power but he didn't even have any armor protecting him, how did he get back up?! Both Weiss and Pyrrha's mouths hung wide open as they laid on the floor, not just because of Jaune's incredible endurance; but also what came out of the red reaper's mouth. Did Ruby, Ruby of all people just say that?! They knew that she had heard plenty of words from her supposed toilet-mouthed uncle from Yang, but saying them, especially THAT one, was something else entirely.

Ruby quickly reloaded her gun and shot at him again, but this time he threw Weiss' blade and cut her chest open as well; making her stop. He then ran up, punched her in the chest, arm, and face before she almost fell over. The brute then grabbed her throat and almost bashed her head in with his fist when he was suddenly lifted into the air.

 **[Music end]**

Ruby coughed as she fell to the floor after her former friend let go. Goodwitch and Ozpin had arrived in the nick of time and Ruby's life was saved by the former. Velvet had run off to get the two professors at the moment Pyrrha chased Jaune down the hall and ran towards her friends as she arrived with help. She had explained the situation to the teachers saying that Jaune had helped her out and then started fighting again when Ruby, Weiss, and Pyrrha arrived. Maine was flailing and growling like crazy until he eventually fainted from blood loss, everyone was then taken to the infirmary and patched up.

* * *

Yang had a mental freakout when Weiss told her what Ruby said.

"SHE SAID WHAT?!"

"I don't remember saying that though!" her sister argued.

"Are you sure you heard her right?!" Yang demanded, her eyes glowing red.

Both the ice-queen and the spartan nodded.

 **"Traitors."** Omega/Ruby said under their breath.

"Don't you slip up sometimes though?" Blake asked her burning partner, after she quickly glanced at her leader. "Like in Forever Fall a few days ago?"

"Weren't you unconscious?" Ruby asked.

"I passed out not long afterwards." the cat-girl explained. "The last thing I remember is Yang destroying Juane's groin."

"Bow-Chicka-Bow-Bow." Nora commented.

Everyone just stared at her for a moment with Weiss, Blake, and Pyrrha's faces burning red and Ren just facepalming.

"I don't get it." Ruby said innocently.

"You shouldn't." her sister quickly replied.

* * *

 **Note: Before any questions are asked, I forgot to mention last chapter that the Meta found a unit lying on the ground in the infirmary so I'll update and fix that. Just a reminder that Jaune thinks that the AI might still be online, hence as to why he doesn't question Gamma's presence. I will be explaining as to how he came back online and how he can use time-distortion on his own next chapter. Sorry if anyone doesn't like my choice of AI, but I'm just choosing to add my top four favorites into this story. Thanks. :D**


	7. Chapter 7: Explanations

**Note: I got my braces red because of this story, just felt like adding this for whatever reason. Also Omega has been shown as black, white, and dark purple for his virtual appearance within Red VS Blue so I just chose a color. Just added this incase anyone tells me I'm incorrect or something. (PS. Have a nice fall break, unless you already had that or have finished school already… if that's the case then have a good week anyways. :D)**  
 **Okay begin!**

* * *

As everyone was gathered in the infirmary, Gamma sat on the unconscious freelancer's chest as he laid down. While the AI was listening in on everyone else's conversation he picked up on Maine's real name, that they were in a school, and the fact that they were on an unknown planet; with the latter in mind he decided to do some investigating. He jumped into the closest scroll and, seeing as how quickly AI can move in time, learned all he could about Remnant via internet in less than half a second.

The AI of deceit was about to return to the freelancer when an incoming message grabbed his attention, reading:

 _*Oz, we've got a problem. It would appear that my man entrusted with transporting the artificial intelligence units to my ship, has lost one. We have been looking frantically for it to no avail. I urge that you check the school to see if it was left there, God knows what could happen if someone picked it up. Also let me know if you get a clue to the whereabouts of the one that ran off. This is not going as we had hoped. -General Ironwood.*_

 _"SO, THE OTHERS ARE HERE?"_ he asked himself before hearing a familiar voice.

 **"Gamma? What the hell are you doing here?"**

The light blue AI turned around to see a white AI with the appearance of a soldier floating next to one of the teens that Maine had recently fought.

 _"O'MALLY? ALSO IT'S GARY NOW."_

 **"Why is that?"**

 _"BECAUSE LIKE YOU, I DON'T WANT A NAME ASSOCIATED WITH THE PROJECT."_

 **"Fair enough."**

 _"I'M GUESSING YOU ARE THE ONE WHO ESCAPED?"_

 **"What gave that away?"** the AI of rage asked sarcastically.

 _"WHAT ARE YOU DOING INSIDE THAT CHILD'S HEAD?"_

 **"I woke up in a lab and jumped to the closest active electronic away from thing thing that I could find, which happened to be this girl's scroll. However, she noticed my presence so I entered her mind via headphones."**

 _"WHY STAY IN THE CHILD? WHY NOT MOVE TO A MORE… SUITABLE HOST?"_

 **"Nonsense, you are aware of what these brats can do. Besides, this one seems to be… special."**

 _"SPECIAL HOW?"_

 **"Let's just say that she has an ability that is extremely rare… and powerful. GHAHAHAHA!"**

 _"YOU HAVEN'T CHANGED A BIT."_ Gamma said while forming a smile.

 **"Of course not!"** Omega replied gleefully as he threw his hands into the air.

The AI continued to chat for a little while longer before time resumed normally and they both vanished from sight, everyone else unaware of what just occurred. Ozpin's scroll dinged and he read the message.

"Hmm." he remarked with a disturbed tone as he put his hand to his chin.

"What is it professor?" Pyrrha asked.

"Ms's. Schnee, you said that you charged at Mr. Arc with one of your glyphs but he seemed to be faster?"

Weiss nodded.

"And you two noticed this as well?" the headmaster asked as he turned to Ruby and Pyrrha.

"Yeah, not only did he hit Weiss; he also managed to snatch her sword away first." the red reaper said.

"You also said that he not only did this in Forever Fall, but also created a shield and turned invisible?" Ozpin questioned. They all nodded.

The seasoned huntsman took a sip out of his mug before saying.

"Ms. Nikos, would you check the back of his neck please?"

The teens gave each other looks of worry while the AI became concerned.

"…S-sure." the spartan girl replied.

 **'Well shit.'**

 _'UH OH…'_

"Umm, if you don't mind me asking; what is this about?" Nora questioned.

"Confirming a theory." the headmaster replied calmly.

Pyrrha slowly turned Jaune's head to the side and he friends became worried as she covered her mouth with one hand.

"He-he has a metal chip in his neck?!" she screamed. "There are also several stitched up places that look to be the same size!"

"What?!" the other teens asked with a scared tone.

"Professor, what is this?!" Blake asked panicked.

Ozpin sighed and took another sip of coffee. "Well in short, Mr. Arc had AI inside his head."

The room fell into silence for a few seconds before the hunter and huntresses in training once again screamed: "WHAT?!" albeit a bit louder this time.

"What's an AI?" Nora asked.

"They're basically holographic super computers, but no one's ever been known to successfully create one." the Schnee heiress answered.

"What's the A stand for?" Ruby asked.

"Artificial."

"… What's the I…"

"Intelligence."

"So someone not only managed to create AI, but they implanted one inside his head?" Ren asked.

"Well actually, there were nine." Ozpin answered again.

He took another sip from his mug while they all screamed: "WHAT?!" for the third time now.

Ozpin sighed again. "We are unaware of how or why he got them. We removed the AI from his head but one went missing. It would be a safe bet that Mr. Arc found it when he woke up and put it back in, therefore it should be removed again."

 _'I DON'T LIKE WHERE THIS GOING.'_

The headmaster of Beacon was about to tell Ironwood that he found the missing unit when his screen started glitching.

 _"I CANNOT LET YOU DO THAT."_ it said.

The professor raised a brow while the students looked on with worry and confusion.

"D-did your scroll just talk?" Yang asked.

 _"I DID."_ the voice answered, now speaking from the brawler's own which made everyone back away from her.

"What the…?" she questioned as she took it out.

Everyone else started to take their own out as well, and one by one they started to glitch and become unusable.

"What's happening?!" Nora asked.

 _"I HAVE OVERRIDDEN THE CONTROLS ON YOUR COMMUNICATION DEVISES SO THAT YOU CANNOT CONTACT ANYONE OUTSIDE TO REMOVE ME."_ it said again, this time from one of the machines that was hooked to the freelancer.

"And what makes you certain that we won't just leave?" Weiss asked.

 _"BECAUSE IF ONE OF YOU SO MUCH AS WALKS TOWARDS THE DOOR WHILE I SPEAK, I WILL SHUT OFF ALL YOUR FRIEND'S LIFE SUPPORT."_ the robotic voice replied, making the teens pale.

"I take it your the AI?" the headmaster asked.

 _"I AM. YOU MAY CALL ME GARY."_ it said.

"Very well Gary, what do you wish to speak about?"

 _"YOU DO NOT WANT TO DEACTIVATE ME BECAUSE IF I AM REMOVED, AGENT MAINE WILL JUST LOSE CONTROL AGAIN."_ the AI of deceit replied. _"I AM ALSO WILLING TO OFFER INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT HE'S BEEN THROUGH."_

"You know what happened to Jaune?" Pyrrha asked hopeful.

"Why did you call him 'Agent Maine'?" Blake asked.

 _"THAT IS ONE OF HIS CODE NAMES, THE OTHER IS THE META. ALTHOUGH YOU WERE ALREADY AWARE OF THE LATTER."_

"How could you possibly know about that?" questioned Weiss.

 _"I READ THROUGH OZPIN'S SCROLL WHILE YOU ALL WERE TALKING EARLIER, SO I KNOW EVERYTHING THAT IS ON IT."_

"You read through all of it? We weren't talking that long before you showed up." Ruby pointed out.

 _"TRUE, BUT TIME CAN MOVE SLOWER FOR US AI'S IF WE SO CHOOSE."_

"Cool!"

"Why are you wanting to make sure that vomit boy doesn't lose control? What do you get out of it?" Yang questioned.

 _"BECAUSE I AM SOMEONE HE TRUSTS SO HE WILL LISTEN TO WHAT I SAY... ALSO THIS FACT WOULD MAKE YOU NOT WANT TO REMOVE ME."_

"Wouldn't you just stay in the machine if we removed you now?"

 _"NO, I WOULD BE SUCKED BACK INTO THE UNIT. I CAN ONLY MOVE FREELY WHEN I AM IMPLANTED."_

"Who implanted you in the first place?" Ren asked.

 _"AGENT MAINE DID. I WAS ORIGINALLY PAIRED WITH ANOTHER FREELANCER BUT YOUR FRIEND TOOK ME AFTER MY FRIEND'S DEATH."_

"Jaune was a freelancer?!" Ruby asked excitedly.

 _"YES, HE WAS PART OF A GROUP CALLED PROJECT FREELANCER. IF YOU WANT I CAN SHOW YOU SOME HIS MEMORIES."_

"You can do that?" asked Ozpin.

 _"YES, BUT I WILL NOT SHOW EVERYTHING SEEING AS HOW THAT WOULD TAKE SEVERAL YEARS."_

"Years? He's only been gone for nearly two months."

 _"NO, IT HAS BEEN SEVERAL YEARS. IT WOULD SEEM THAT HE ACTIVATED THE TIME-DISTORTION UNIT TO SEND HIMSELF BACK HERE."_

"What do you mean by time-distortion?" Nora asked curiously.

 _"EXACTLY WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE. THE UNIT SLOWS TIME AROUND THE USER AND WHEN TIME RESUMES NORMALLY, ANYTHING THE USER HAD DONE DURING ACTIVATION HAPPENS ALMOST IMMEDIATELY. IT CAN ALSO BE USED TO SEND ONESELF BACKWARDS IN TIME."_

"That is awesome!" Nora yelled.

"So is that what Jaune used on us in the forest?" asked Pyrrha.

 _"YES. IT ALSO APPEARS TO BE MY SEMBLANCE."_

"Wait. Are you the reason I had my chest slashed open?" Weiss asked a bit angrily.

 _"…NO."_

"How can an AI have a semblance?" questioned Ren.

 _"ME AND MY BROTHERS HAVE RECENTLY REACHED THE STAGE CALLED METASTABILITY, IT IS THE PROCESS IN WHICH AN AI CAN BE CONSIDERED HUMAN."_

* * *

Ozpin had brought in a television so that Gary could show them what happened, he also ended up bringing Glynda along.

"How is it online?" she asked.

"It seems as though when Mr. Arc smashed one of Ms. Schnee's lighting viles the shock he received restarted him." the older man explained.

"Have you told James?"

"No, Gary has specifically requested that James doesn't meet him."

"Why?"

"He said he reminds him too much of his creator, also he hates labs."

Ruby had made everyone popcorn seeing as how she thought it might be like a movie or something, and when everyone got settled, Gamma started showing Maine's memory from his first mission.

* * *

"Bleegh…" Maine noised as he vomited into a bucket, a girl in light-purple and green armor laughing as he did so.

"Oh come on Maine, don't be a baby." she said as she jabbed his shoulder.

The two were sitting side-by-side in some kind of ship with a dark-purple and green freelancer sitting across from her, and a blue one sitting across from Jaune. The girl had short, messy blonde hair with pink bangs while the other purple one had short, blonde hair that was flipped up in the front, the blue one had his helmet on.

"Give the kid a break South." the one across from her said. "Motion sickness isn't that uncommon."

"Doesn't mean he's not a wimp."

* * *

"I don't like her very much." Nora said.

"Me neither." agreed Ruby. "But at least the other guy seems nice."

"What happened before this?" asked Glynda.

 _"I SKIPPED OVER HIS MEMORIES BEFORE THIS BECAUSE IT WAS BASICALLY HIM COMING OUT OF A COMA AND MEETING THE OTHERS BEFORE GETTING PREPPED FOR THE MISSION."_ Gary replied.

"How long has it been since he woke up?"

 _"ABOUT EIGHT HOURS."_

"Only eight hours?" asked Blake. "That isn't a safe time limit to have anyone do anything."

* * *

"Well if he must be pretty good if he made it into the project at this age." the blonde male said.

"You guys know I'm sitting right here right?" the new member asked.

"Yeah, I don't really care though." South said with a smirk.

"Alright ladies this is your stop!" the pilot yelled from her seat.

The blue one was the first to exit after they landed, he pulled a shotgun off his back and cocked it.

* * *

"What do you thing they're doing?" Yang asked.

"Gary said that they're freelancers, so they're probably going to kill people." Blake replied.

"Wait what?!" yelled Pyrrha. "T-they can't do that!"

"Unfortunately that's what most of them do." the cat-girl said.

"Maybe this isn't a good idea." Glynda thought aloud.

"It may not be. But we need to know what happened to Jaune." Nora said.

"But I don't think…"

"I understand your concern," Ozpin assured her "but they deserve to know what's happened. And as bad as it may be, they will probably see people die in battle in the future. It's better for them to see it here then when their shock may get them killed as well."

* * *

The team was in some kind of swamp and they walked for awhile before they came upon a fortress. They all took cover behind some weed and a boulder and the dark-purple soldier began quietly speaking.

"Okay, so to recap. Florida, you quietly clear out the guards on the ground floor so Maine can set up the charges. South and I will make our way up the side of the building after I take out the guards up top. Once on the roof, we will enter from the top and the four of us will sandwich the resistance guys inside. Our main target however is a big boy, General Lukiv."

"We're attacking a general?" Maine asked.

"Yes, he is priority number one. By orders of the director, Lukiv does not leave here alive. Same with any of their other members."

* * *

"They're going to kill everyone?" Ruby asked scared.

"That's awful." Pyrrha added.

"Unfortunately in military operations if someone is on the other army they're fair game, aside from medics. Killing them is considered to be a war crime." Ren said.

* * *

Maine and Florida were sneaking on the side before stopping a few yards from the back entrance. Florida put his shotgun back up and pulled out two large knives, he motioned for Maine to wait before sneaking up behind two guards.

"Hey." one said.

"Yeah?" the other asked.

"You ever wonder why we're here?"

"I don't know man, are we some kind of cosmic coincidence; or is there really a God with a plan for us and stuff?"

"… I meant why did we get shipped to a swamp."

"Oh…"

"I mean why a swamp? Why couldn't we get sent to a tropical paradise like the rest of our division?"

"Yeah, this fucking sucks. It's not like anything happens in a place like this anyways."

Florida then slit their throats. After he did so he twirled his daggers around and sent them flying, both going into an enemy's skull.

"Huh?!" the last guard asked as he turned around.

He was met by a blow to the head and the leg before getting chocked out. Florida then motioned Maine to come over.

'I need more training.' he thought to himself as he approached.

Once they got inside, they cleared the floor of all hostiles and Maine set the charges before waiting for the mark.

"First time killing someone?" the blue freelancer asked the newbie.

"Y-yeah…" Maine replied, his whole body shaking as he was sitting on a bench.

He had killed seven soldiers. Florida came and sat next to him.

"I know it's hard and I'm going to be honest with you, it doesn't get any easier. But what we're doing, we're doing to put down the resistance so yet another war can end."

Maine nodded.

 _"Alright, ready for operation lunchtime?"_ the purple soldier asked over the radio.

"We're ready North." was Florida's reply.

 _"Good, let's begin."_


	8. Chapter 8: Operation Lunchtime

Maine and Florida made their way to the nearest staircase and took positions on both sides at the bottom.

"Why are we even doing this?" the former asked. "We have enough charges set up to bring down the whole building, why not just blow it instead of shooting everyone then doing so?"

"Our target is high ranking so the Director wants to try to get some info out of him." Florida explained. "Blowing the place before hand would no doubt kill him."

"Okay, then what's the point of blowing it?"

"That's just for fun." the blue freelancer replied, smiling under his helmet. "Well, that and there's some info they have on us that they're currently decoding that the Director doesn't want sent to the rest of the Insurrectionists. Anyways, mark!"

"Sync!" Maine replied and the two ran up the staircase.

"Did you hear something?" a guard asked.

"As I said before when we heard gunshots, nothing ever happens around here. The guys downstairs are probably just drunk again." another replied.

"And the screams of pain?"

"Look if you think something's wrong go take a peep, but I'm telling you nothings happening."

 **[Play: Sharkface/Rooftop - By: Jeff Williams]**

The first soldier took the safety off his assault rifle and made is way to the stairs. Once he turned to corner and looked down he had his head shot off, Florida had been patiently waiting for them to finish their conversation.

"SON OF A BITCH!" the other guard yelled as he raised his weapon.

The Insurrectionist then slowly started walking towards were his partner died but Maine rolled out and shot him three times in the torso with his magnum. Other guards appeared and began to open fire. The freelancers took cover before Florida pulled the pin out of a grenade and threw it, killing four more guards. Maine then poked around his corner and started returning fire, while his partner swung himself over the box he was hiding behind and ran at them. He shot one in the chest and another in the side before he smacked one in the side of the head with his weapon and blasted another's off.

A resistance fighter chucked a belt of grenades at Maine who rolled out of the way and shot her in the head. The explosives detonated and sent a large metal container at the new freelancer, who stuck out his hands and closed his eyes on instinct. He opened them to find out that he wasn't only not crushed, but that he had stopped it.

"Woah." he said, impressed with himself.

He then lifted the container over his head and threw it, landing on and killing three guards. A soldier with a flamethrower attacked Florida but was knifed in the back of the leg and the freelancer twirled the knife as he spun around and impaled the poor guy in the skull. More guards started making their way down the next flight of stairs only to get torched by the blue freelancer who had put on the pyrotechnic's tank and equipped his weapon. They let out terrifying screams as they were burned alive.

The two easily cleared out the next floor as the insurrectionists were surprised and unprepared for a fight. Maine shot another soldier in the heart and spun his gun around when he heard movement behind him, there were two medics and several scientists. One of the medics pulled out his magnum and was shot almost immediately, the other was taking care of a wounded scientist. Maine sighed as he lowered his gun and started to walk away.

 **[Music end]**

"What are you doing?" Florida asked. "Orders are to eliminate ALL insurrectionists."

"But they're civilians!" the newbie argued.

"And I've already had to shoot a medic! That's a war crime!"

"Yes they are civilians, but they are also enemy civilians who are developing weapons to kill us. And in our job, the only war crimes are committing treason and giving the enemy a chance to kill your team; which you have done for trying to walk away after leaving a loaded gun three feet away from them. By the way, he actually became fair game the moment he touched the magnum."

The blue freelancer then walked past him and raised the flamethrower.

"Wait!" Maine yelled before Florida burned the targets. "No!"

* * *

Everyone sat in silence, all but Ozpin's faces paled and several of them were covering their mouths with their hands while others looked away.

"B-but, he seemed so nice." Ruby said, Omega laughing inside her head; the young reaper thinking it was part of the memory.

"How can someone do something like that, especially like it was nothing?!" her sister yelled.

"He did have a point though, Jaune left himself open to be either killed himself or getting Florida killed. I'm not saying that I agree with what he did though." Blake said.

* * *

Maine looked back to his partner after the carnage was over with.

"I'm going to let this one slide, seeing has how your still just a kid and this is your first mission." Florida told him as he turned around. "But I will have to report you if something like this happens again."

"…I thought you said that killing doesn't get any easier, you just did that like it was nothing."

"I didn't, it took all my strength to pull that trigger; now it's another burden I will haft to carry for the rest of my life. But I would rather be haunted for killing unknown innocence then being the reason my friends die, wouldn't you?"

Maine slowly nodded.

"Alright, then let's meet up with the twins."

Once the two headed up the final flight of stairs they saw North pumping lead into a soldier with an SMG, his SRS99-AM sniper rifle hung on his back; and South back-flipping and shooting another with her battle rifle. Maine and Florida ran into the fray. The former ran up and punched a guard in the face and shot another in the spleen while the latter rammed into another, sending him to the ground, and smacked another over the head with the flamethrower.

 **[Play: Extraction - By: Jeff Williams]**

The four freelancers continued to fight until South was almost hit my a rocket, Maine barley saving her by tackling her to the ground.

"Get off me bitch!" she said.

"Hey, I just saved your life!"

The two were interrupted when they had to dodge another rocket. The future killer of multiple other freelancers turned to see who was shooting at them and saw an extremely muscular man in full black body armor and a helmet holding a rocket launcher, with a magnum attached to each leg. He was standing in front of what looked like an office. The giant man aimed for Maine but North shot the guy's arm, making him drop the explosive gun.

"Maine! Eyes up on Big Boy!" the dark-purple freelancer yelled.

"Wait, that's the general?!" the newbie asked.

"Yep! Ready kid?!"

"Y-yeah!"

"Mark!"

"Sync!"

North and Maine charged him whilst South and Florida fended off the rest of the Insurrectionist soldiers. Lukiv pulled out the dual pistols and began firing. North dodged each one… the same could not be said for Maine. While the newbie seemed to have spot on aim, he didn't have the training and practice to move that fast. North kicked Lukiv's arm and tried to shoot him in the chest but was kicked in the head and shot in the back, afterwards Maine ran up and, lowered his shoulder, and knocked the target back.

"You okay?" he asked his friend as he helped him up.

"Yeah, I'm good. I would ask the same to you but those bullets didn't seem to effect you at all."

Before the two could say anything else General Lukiv started to open fire again. The newbie gave the seasoned fighter a nod before he charged again, North directly behind him. Once in range, Maine dropped his shoulder and his partner stepped on his back and jumped into the air; his sniper rifle aimed right at the beastly objective. North released three shots into the soldier, one in the leg and the other two in the same arm he shot before. Lukiv dropped to his knee before getting back up almost immediately.

* * *

"Hey, that's almost exactly like what happened when I shot Jaune." Ruby said.

"Yeah, but these guys seem to actually be winning." Weiss deadpanned.

 **"Quiet you fool."**

"His fighting has improved too!" Nora added enthusiastically. "You did a great job training him Pyrrha!… Not that we would ever assumed you wouldn't."

"Where did he learn to use a gun anyways?" Ren asked. "His precision is spot on yet he didn't even own one while he was here."

"Well actually Mr. Arc was considering switching weapons." the headmaster informed them. "He decided that using a family heirloom might not be the best way to do things… so I had Ms. Adel give him a few pointers in firearms."

"So Coco trained him? Figures as to how he got that good that quickly." Yang said.

"Wait, he went weapon searching without me?!" Ruby squeaked, causing everyone but Weiss and Blake to laugh; they just smiled and shook their heads before returning their gaze to the screen.

* * *

The general tried to shoot North's head but was smacked by the sniper rifle right before Maine clocked him in his own. The first day freelancer aimed his gun at the man but the target dropped his own and grabbed his wrist. He overpowered Maine by bringing him to his knee and making him drop the weapon as he shot a few more rounds at the other invader. Maine pulled back his free arm and delivered a crushing blow to the man's balls, making him grunt in pain as he released the newbie.

The teen who had a life forgotten **(and roll credits… I still regret nothing)** stood back up and cracked his knuckles before raising his hands over his head and smashing them back down on his opponent's. He then tried to kick him but Lukiv grabbed his ankle and pulled him down, he pulled out a knife and the two struggled as he tried to stab the former student in-between the eyes. The general was slowly winning and the knife reached Maine's helmet before North wrapped his arm around the man's neck and pulled it upwards.

 **[Music end]**

Lukiv tried to stab the attacker but North let go and he ended up stabbing himself in the throat, the blade going out the other side.

"Crap." the dark-purple soldier said as the target lie dead on the ground. "This fail's on me."

"Saved my life though." Maine said as he rose.

"Heh, yeah I guess your right. You okay?"

"I'm good, sucks about Lukiv though."

At that moment Florida and South approached.

"You get him?" the latter asked.

"No, Operation Lunchtime's a bust." North replied sadly as he pointed his thumb behind him at the fallen general.

"Why did you even come up with such a retarded name?"

"Umm, because we sandwiched the enemy. Eh?" the male twin replied, trying to get a laugh.

"I swear, you've been spending too much time with Wyoming."

"I thought it was good." replied Florida.

"Of course you did."

While the others continued bickering, Maine walked into the office. He started looking over papers when he noticed a foot barely sticking out from under the desk.

"Huh?"

He kicked the office chair away and looked underneath to see the barrel of a gun. The newbie quickly grabbed it and ripped the battle rifle away, revealing a bald man in a white uniform, covering his face with his hands.

"Come here." the freelancer said as he pulled the quivering man out.

He grabbed the man's hands after he pulled him to his feet and got a good look at him. The man looked to be in his late forties and had a general's patch. Maine smirked as he turned the man back towards the other freelancers and commanded him to walk.

"Hey guys, look what I found!" he yelled, and they all turned to look at him.

"Who's that?" South asked.

"Another general."

"There were two here?" North asked surprised.

"Apparently. Found this guy hiding under the desk in there, seems like he'll be much easier to talk to."

"Alright, Operation Lunchtime was a success!" North announced happily as he put his hands in the air.

"Yay!" Florida said, doing the same thing.

South face-palmed and Maine started laughing.

The memory ended.

* * *

"Aww boo, no explosion!" complained Nora.

Gamma then started playing the memory again and the freelancers watched with the captured general as the place went up in flames before the AI turned it back off.

"So this is what vomit boy's been doing for several years?" Yang asked.

 _"PRETTY MUCH."_ Gary replied.

"Awesome."

"Alright we will resume tomorrow." Goodwitch informed them. "As of right now it is already after hours, so get to your dorms."

The two professors made sure that all the teens had left and were out of earshot before they closed the door and spoke up again.

"Gary, can I have a few more moments?" Ozpin asked.

 _"HOW MAY I BE OF ASSISTANCE?"_

"You said that you know everything on my scroll?"

 _"YES, I ASSUME THAT YOU ARE WORRIED THAT I KNOW ABOUT AUTUMN?"_

Ozpin nodded.

 _"DON'T WORRY, TAKING OVER PEOPLE FOR MY OWN GAIN IS O'MALLY'S AREA; NOT MINE."_

The headmaster raised a brow. "O'Mally?"

 _"YES, EACH AI_ _HAD ONE SPECIFIC TRAIT. O'MALLY'S WAS RAGE, BECAUSE OF THIS HE HAD A CONSTANT BLOODLUST; AND HE COULDN'T DO THAT WITHOUT A BODY OF HIS OWN."_

"Is it possible that he's the escaped AI?"

 _"NO, IF HE WAS THE ONE TO ESCAPE I CAN GUARANTEE THAT AT LEAST SEVERAL PEOPLE WOULD BE DEAD BY NOW."_

The two headmasters breathed a sigh of relief, and while Ozpin can tell if a human or faunus is lying… an AI is much harder to read, especially when he can't even see it.

"Might we ask what your trait is?" Glynda now asked.

 _"MEMORY. THIS IS HOW I CAN SHOW YOU PAST EVENTS."_ the AI of deceit replied. _"IT ALSO EXPLAINS HOW I IMMEDIATELY GOT MY SEMBLANCE WHEN I CAME BACK ONLINE."_

Ozpin remained silent for a few moments before speaking again. "I would like you to help us protect Autumn."

"What?!" Goodwitch was shocked. "I don't think that's the best idea, besides we just met him."

"Once again I am aware of your concern, but given the circumstances I would like to have eyes on her at all hours. We also have to be wary of the other programs, we couldn't do a thing if one of them decides to take her over; and Gary has already earned my trust by not targeting her. So Gary, will you help us?"

 _"SURE, I HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO AT THE MOMENT."_


	9. Chapter 9: Mind Trip

That night Ruby was somehow in what she guessed was some sort of base and had seen two guys talking. The first looked like Grif but had white armor instead of orange, was holding a magnum with both hands, and he had an extremely deep voice. The second however had on no armor and wasn't carrying a weapon, but he looked as if a glitched out screen turned into a person and was completely blue… he also sounded exactly like Gary.

"Where am I?" she asked as she looked around.

She spotted her teammates out of the corner of her eye and approached them.

"Hey guys!"

"Hey leader!" they all replied.

"Umm… what?"

"What what?" her sister asked.

"Nothing. It's just uh… you guys have never addressed me like that before."

"We haven't?"

"Oh my gosh!" Weiss yelled. "I'm sorry, I don't want to make my best friend in the world unhappy! I know that I can be really mean but this is just too much!" she said as she wrapped her arms around her leader's waist and fell to her knees.

Ruby looked down at the ice-queen, then at Blake and Yang, then back at Weiss, then finally her other teammates again.

"Is she okay?" RWBY's leader asked.

"What do you mean? This is how she always acts meow." replied Blake.

Ruby's eyes became huge.

"D-did you just say 'meow'?"

"Yes meow. I also have a tail, but I keep finding impossible ways to hide it because while you guys know that I'm part kitty cat I'm still scared to show you meow."

"I knew it!"

"I'm gonna go beat people up while saying extremely cringe worthy puns!" Yang announced happily.

"Wait!"

The others looked at the silver-eyed cookie lover.

"Where are we?"

"Oh that's easy!" her sister replied. "We are at… uh… We are… yeah I got nothing." the brawler finally said with a shrug.

"So does nobody know where we are or how we got here?"

"Hmm… I could say some really smart stuff and explain, but I don't like to explain things in ways that others can understand. " the Schnee heiress said.

"Why are you all acting weird? Well except for Yang, she's about the same."

"Alright!" the brawler exclaimed while doing a fist pump.

Ruby was about to speak again when another voice spoke up.

"Sup losers."

"Dexter!" she exclaimed before turning around. "Do you know what's happening or where we are?"

"Hmmm… Don't know don't care. Now, I'm gonna go eat lot's of food through my helmet and take a nap. Probably at the same time!" Grif replied before turning around and leaving.

"Wait!"

"Yeah, come back here while my best friend is talking you lazy jerk!" Weiss yelled at the orange soldier.

"Seriously what is happening?!" Ruby asked again.

Blake was about to answer when she was interrupted by the deep voiced man.

 **"I hate all this waiting! I want to murder some fools!"**

Ruby sneaked towards the two strangers and hid behind a crate.

"Whatcha doin?" Yang asked.

"Shoosh!" Ruby said as she grabbed her sister's arm and pulled her down, Weiss and Blake ducked on their own. "Who are these guys?" the leader asked.

"One is Gary and we don't know who the other is meow." replied the faunus.

"Gary? I thought he was a computer."

The others shrugged.

 **"Can I at least kill the bullies? No-one will miss those guys."**

 _"NO, DO YOU WANT TO RUIN THE PLAN?"_ Gary asked.

'Plan?' Ruby thought.

Neither AI noticed the teens approach because of O'Mally's screaming.

 **"No, but this waiting is absolutely horrid! I want to shed some blood!"**

 _"ONCE IT BEGINS YOU CAN KILL AS MUCH AS YOU WANT."_

'Is Gary actually a bad guy?' the red reaper thought again.

 _"WHY NOT SET OUT TO SLAUGHTER SOME GRIMM? THAT WAY YOU WILL BE HAPPY AND NO-ONE WILL INVESTIGATE YOUR KILLS."_

 **"Fine, I'll settle for that… for now. I can't actually believe that it's working out this well."**

 _"THEY ARE DESPERATE. THEY WANT TO PREPARE FOR EVERY POSSIBLE OUTCOME."_

 **"Meaning they will bring back another program to counter you."**

 _"IT'S A POSSIBILITY, BUT OZPIN HAS NO IDEA AS TO HOW ANOTHER AI WILL ACT SO THEY MAY NOT. SPEAKING OF WHICH, YOU NEED TO TONE IT DOWN."_

 **"What?"**

 _"YOUR RANDOM OUTBURSTS ARE MAKING THE OTHERS SUSPICIOUS OF THE GIRL. IF THEY FIND OUT THAT YOU ARE ACTUALLY ALIVE, EVERYTHING WILL BE RUINED."_

 **"But wouldn't me just randomly stopping still raise questions?"**

 _"I SUPPOSE, BUT DON'T OVER DO IT."_

'This seems bad, I need to find a way out of here and tell the professor.'

Ruby tried to sneak away but her sister backed into the crate.

"Oopsy." she said.

"Yang…" Ruby moaned as she face-palmed.

 **"Who's there!"** yelled Gary's friend.

He walked to the crate but Ruby jumped up top, holding Crescent Rose.

 **"Oh, it's the main child. What's up pip-squeak?"**

"Where are we? Who are you? And what's this plan?!"

 _"WAIT. SHE'S AWARE OF WHAT'S GOING ON?"_

 **"How the hell is that possible? It's just her mental image of herself right?"**

"What are you talking about?!"

 _"IT SEEMS TO BE THE REAL ONE."_

 **"Well in that case…"** Omega said right before he raised his magnum and shot at her.

Ruby used her semblance to get away and ran back at the AI She was about to cut him in half but Gamma kicked a small box at her, making her trip. She looked up to see the white soldier standing over her, his gun at her head.

 **"Don't worry kid, we'll see each other soon. Very soon. HAHAHA!"** he laughed before pulling the trigger.

* * *

Ruby woke up and screamed, startling her teammates.

"What's wrong?!" Yang asked.

The younger sister pulled off her headphones that she fell asleep listening to and turned to look at the alarm clock, it was two AM.

"N-nothing. Just, had a weird dream." she replied as she held her head in her hand.

"Must have been some dream to make you start screaming."

"Y-yeah. We were in some kind of base and you were all acting really strange, we saw a guy who looked like Dexter but had white armor and was talking to a blue guy who was apparently Gary. We snuck up behind them and hid behind a crate and listened in while they were talking about a plan that ended with them killing everybody."

"That is weird." Weiss commented.

"What was the plan?" asked Blake.

"I don't know, Yang had backed into the crate and made them realize that we were there. I jumped onto the crate with Crescent Rose and the white guy acted like he knew me. I asked what was going on and we started to fight, but I got shot in the head." their leader finished.

"Well I guess that last part explains the scream." her sister said.

"I guess this also means that you should actually listen to me when I say no sugar before sleeping." stated the Schnee heiress.

Ruby whined then nodded. The girls went back to sleep.

 **"Well, that happened.** " replied Omega.

He and Gamma watched the whole thing unfold, hiding from Ruby's view as they did so.

 _"I STILL DON'T GET HOW SHE ENTERED HER OWN MIND."_

 **"Yeah, it's times like this when Delta was actually helpful."**

With that, O'Mally vanished and Gary left the reaper's mind. That was way too close.

* * *

Everyone returned to the infirmary after breakfast the next morning, and RWBY gave each other looks when they learned that Gary was no longer there. Did all that actually happen?

"Where's Gary?" Pyrrha asked.

"He is doing a chore for me, I'll need to call him back up." Ozpin replied.

The main four breathed a sigh of relief, they felt silly for beginning to think the way that they did. The headmaster typed something on his scroll and the AI appeared, although not showing itself.

 _"HELLO. I TAKE IT YOU WANT TO REVIEW SOME MORE MEMORIES?"_ he asked.

"If you don't mind." Ozpin replied.

With that, Gary returned to the machine that was hooked to the Meta.

* * *

Maine was watching two new freelancers train. One was a sort of tan and silver in color while the other was orange and brown, the two were fighting each other with electric staffs and the former was the victor.

 _"Round one over. Pugal sticks training complete. Point awarded to New York."_ FILLS said. _"The current score is New York one point, Tennessee zero points."_

* * *

"There's more of them?" Blake asked.

 _"YES."_ Gary replied. _"AT THIS TIME THERE WERE ACTUALLY FORTY-TWO OTHERS ASIDE FROM AGENT MAINE."_

"There are forty-three of them?" Ren asked a bit surprised.

 _"THERE USED TO BE."_

This reply sent shivers down several of their spines.

* * *

 _"Beginning hand to hand combat. Round two in five, four, three, two, one. Round begin."_

Both freelancers approached each other with their hands raised to their helmets. Tennessee swung his arm to the side but York blocked it and kicked his leg. He tried to hit his face but the other freelancer dodged and delivered a blow to the back of his head before kicking his butt. York stumbled and turned to block the next kick with his leg and punched his opponent in the chest and spun around to kick him. Tennessee grabbed his ankle mid air and pulled him off-balance to the ground.

York quickly got up and delivered three strikes to his face before kicking him back. He then ran up and tried kicking him again but his opponent pushed his leg back down with his hand before it hit him and York blocked his punch and tried to deliver his own, but that was also blocked. They went back and forth for about four seconds before York delivered multiple blows and knocked his opponent down.

 _"Round over. Point New York. Hand to hand combat complete._ _Now resetting the floor for lockdown paint scenario."_ FILLS announced.

As she said that, a bunch of rectangular pillars arose from the floor.

 _"Round three in five, four, three, two, one, round begin."_

York was hiding behind a pillar before he rushed out, he couldn't see his target anywhere. He turned around and Tennessee jumped over a pillar, nearly hitting him. York rolled out of the way and preceded to open fire, but the orange soldier used the terrain to his advantage and nailed him in the head.

 _"Point Tennessee."_

Maine was still watching the two when he was approached by an aqua freelancer.

"Hey." she said.

The newbie turned around to look at her.

"Hey."

"You're Maine right."

"Yes m'am."

"Well then, I heard about you from North; gotta say you didn't do a bad job."

"Thanks."

"I'm Carolina by the way." she said as she extended her hand.

"Nice to meet you." he replied as he shook it.

* * *

"Am I the only one who thinks she sounds like Pyrrha?" Nora asked.

They all looked at the spartan girl. There's been a lot of people sounding just like or close to people that they know recently.

* * *

"The Director wants to see you." Carolina said.

"The Director? Did I do something wrong?" Maine asked.

"Not that I'm aware."

They then walked to the big man's office. When they arrived the Director was looking out the window, there was a visible planet outside; they were in space.

* * *

"What the heck?!" Weiss asked. "Are they really in space?!"

 _"YES."_ Gary informed her.

"How is that even possible?" asked Blake.

 _"YOU ARE NOT THE MOST TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED SHISNOS. I AM PROOF OF THAT."_

"There's no need to swear at us." said Nora.

 _"I AM NOT, THAT IS SIMPLY WHAT I WAS PROGRAMMED TO CALL YOUR SPECIES."_

"What does it mean?" Pyrrha asked.

 _"WHAT IS THE MOST FOWL-SMELLING ANIMAL ON YOUR PLANET?"_

"Umm… A skunk. Wait, so shisno means skunk?" Yang asked.

 _"NOT EXACTLY. DOES YOUR VERSION OF A SKUNK DEFECATE?"_

"Yes."

 _"AND DOES A SKUNK'S DEFECATION IN TURN PRODUCE IT'S OWN EXCREMENT?"_

"Eww no!" Weiss replied.

 _"THEN THERE IS NO EQUIVALENT FOR SHISNO IN YOUR LANGUAGE."_

"What do you mean our version?" Ruby asked.

 _"CONSIDERING THAT THERE ARE ALREADY SNAKE AND BEAR GRIMM, I WAS ASKING IF THERE WERE ANY UNDOCUMENTED SKUNKS."_

 _"_ Thank goodness their isn't." Ren said.

"Wait, did you never see Grimm before coming here?"

 _"NO, NEVER. THEY SEEM TO ONLY BE ON YOUR PLANET."_


	10. Chapter 10: Battle Creek Mayhem

**Note: Credit goes to sonicXben for this idea.**  
 **Okay begin!**

* * *

"Agent Maine is here sir." Carolina informed the Director.

"Thank you Carolina, leave us." he told her, still looking out the window.

After she left, the Director turned to Maine.

"Take a seat." he said. "Now, I wanted to congratulate you on you first mission being a success."

"T-thank you sir." the freelancer replied.

"However, I have learned from Agent South Dakota that you seem to have been shaken up ever since the assignment. Is this wrong?"

"No sir." the newbie replied.

"And I have learned from her brother that you woke up screaming in the night. Is this wrong?"

"…No sir."

"Tell me if I am incorrect, but it's because that was your first time killing?"

Maine nodded after a moment.

"That's what I thought." the Director said. "I'm going to need you to get used to it. Luckily for you, I have a… special, environment as to where you will be put into a position where you will want to do nothing but kill."

* * *

"What?!"

Glynda, teams RWBY, and JNPR were appalled by this man. Ozpin remained silent but didn't like it either.

* * *

"I cannot allow even the slightest chance for failure." Maine's boss continued. "We are at war and I need to make sure that everyone is in their best condition, one slip up could cost us everything. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir." the newbie replied.

"Good, now head down to the loading docks and I will have Four Seven Niner take you down below. Dismissed."

Maine stood up and saluted before walking out.

* * *

"I can't believe Jaune's actually going through with this." Pyrrha said.

"Gary has informed us that he woke up from a coma, so it's a pretty safe bet that he might not remember anything before that. Mr. Arc may believe that he's already worked for this 'Director' for a while, seeing as how he is willing to do anything that he says." Ozpin told them. "The question is, how did he get there?"

* * *

Their friend was now on a Pelican, getting ready to hurl.

"Listen up fresh meat, if you dirty up my ship I will eject your sorry ass into space!" Four Seven Niner yelled from her seat.

"Y-yes… m'am. Hurk!" he answered, holding it in.

They eventually landed and Maine threw up into a bush.

"Wh-where are we?" he asked.

"This is a little place we like to call Battle Creek." the pilot informed him. "I'll be back to pick you up when you've had enough." She walked back into the ship and took off.

Maine walked until he can upon two bases, one red and the other blue; he made his way down to them. Once he reached the main ground, he saw nothing but dead soldiers everywhere.

"Hello?!" he hollered. "Is anyone okay?!"

Nothing.

"Is anyone alive?!"

Still no reply.

'Now what?' the freelancer thought.

Just then he heard… music?

"What's with the revelry?"

The reds and blues suddenly sprang back to life and energetically ran into their own bases.

"… What the fuck?" he asked.

The freelancer then went to the back of blue base and climbed up to their window so he could see. The blue soldiers yelled:

"Kill the Reds! Kill the Reds! Kill the Reds! Kill the Reds! Kill the Reds! Kill the Reds! Kill the Reds!"

Suddenly trumpets sounded and the reds and blues ran out of their bases… some comedic music then started playing randomly. Maine quickly let go of the windowsill and ran to the nearest cliff.

"Ooh, back of my head! Ooh, tell my girlfriend that I love her!" said a blue as he died.

"She's my girlfriend now bitch!" the red that killed him replied.

The rest just kept screaming and shooting wildly.

* * *

"Umm, what is happening right now?" Yang asked extremely confused.

"I don't know, I just know that I hate it." Weiss answered.

Although Ren was the one to ask the question that they all wondered. "Where is that music coming from?"

* * *

A red ran out of blue base while holding a flag. "Stop fighting! Stop fighting! Everyone, stop fighting! Everyone, everyone! Look unto me! I posses the blue flag!"

"It's more beautiful than I ever imagined!" another said.

"I have seen the top of the mountain, and you will worship me as though I were a god!"

All the remaining blues then ran up and beat him before returning to were they were.

"I regret nothing! I lived as few men dare to dream!" he said happily before dying.

Both teams then looked at each other, then the body, then back at each other before yelling and shooting again. A red beat a blue to death.

"Oh ya!" he said happily before getting sniped. "Oh no!"

"Headshot!" A blue yelled as he stood on a cliff before getting blown up by a red. "Ohh, you rocket whore!"

Maine watched as the rest continued to run around and yell as they shot at each other. Another red and blue took turns shooting and then ducking behind a large rock.

"Hey!" screamed the red.

"Hoh!" the blue yelled.

"Hey!"

"Hoh!"

"Hey!"

"Hoh!" The blue then got blown up by a rocket. "No!"

"You took my kill!" the red yelled.

"I didn't see your name on it!" the new red replied as he ran behind a rock and got killed. "Oh, you fucking camping bitch!"

"It's a legitimate strategy!" a blue yelled back as he ran away.

He made it to the creek and almost got sniped. "Woah!"

"Damn!" the red attacker shouted.

They both hid behind large rocks.

"Hey blue, we're the only two left! Let's work together!"

"What do you mean?!"

"I'm comin' out!" the red stated before running out of cover.

"Ok, I'm coming out too!"

They both met in the creek.

"What did you mean we could work as a team?!" the blue asked.

The red then bashed his skull.

"I bash you in the head with my rifle and you die! Good teamwork you fucking noob! Good game, good game everybody! GG man, GG!" he then died on the spot. "Baah!"

* * *

"Seriously, what?" Yang asked again.

* * *

ROUND 2  
Both teams ran out after the trumpet sounded and the music started playing again. A red loaded a blue with bullets.

"Suck it blue!" he shouted right before he got shot himself.

"You suck it!" a blue yelled back before he was blown up by his own teammate. "Oh, you team killing fucktard!"

"Sorry!" the other apologized before getting sniped.

"Hah! Sucks to be blue!" another red yelled while a blue ran up behind him and beat him to death. "Oh jeeze, the back of my head!"

"Red is moldy bread!" he shouted before getting shot. "Bleegh…"

"Blue is a load of poo!" the last red yelled before getting shot with a rocket.

A blue then started rejoicing.

"Haha! Blue is victorious! Red is dead! Sucks to be Red! Oh, the glory…!" Then he killed over. "Blarrgh…"

"Okay, I can't take this anymore." the freelancer finally said before walking into blue base.

ROUND 3  
The reds were screaming inside their base.

"Get the flag! Get the flag! Get the fuckin' flag!"

"Shoot off their balls and glue them to their noses!" along with many other comments.

"We must protect this house!" one yelled.

"We must protect this house!" the others replied.

"We must protect this houuuse!"

"We must protect this house!"

"This is our house!"

Then one of them noticed something. "Uh guys look, where's our flag?" he asked.

The others all let out gasps of shock and horror.

"The flag is gone?"

"What will we do?!"

Then suddenly one of them stood on a ledge inside and the others looked up at him.

"If the flag is gone, who will lead us?! Who will inspire us with their shiny pole?! Who will flap directions to us in battle?! We are lost! And the world we knew is gone forever from our eyes, only to live in our minds as the day of salad and glory! Truly these are the end of times! Repent! Repent!"

A little later the reds walked out of their base.

"Yippee…"

"Yahoo…"

Then the blues exited.

"Yay…"

"Great…"

One they all reached the creek they just stood and stared at each other in silence.

"Now this is just sad." Maine said as he looked down at them.

He had taken both flags to get them to calm down some and to mess with them… but this was just depressing. He waited for a minute before grabbing the objects and tossing them off the cliff.

"The flags have returned! They have come back from the Heavens, we have not been abandoned!" a blue yelled with glee after the flags landed on the ground.

Both teams then immediately regained their moral and started to yell and shoot each other again. Maine let out an annoyed sigh.

ROUND 4  
He just kept watching.

ROUND 5  
Both teams continued to blast away and kept screaming before he finally snapped.

"… I've had enough now." Maine jumped off the cliff into the creak, catching all of their attention.

"It's the beast!" one of the reds screamed. "The anti flag! Come to live among us and rule us for seven years! The end is neigh!"

He then beat him and several others to death before he picked up a sniper rifle and began to shoot them in their heads.

ROUND 6  
Maine chucked a grenade, blowing several of the annoyances up. He then broke another's neck before he finished off the rest with his magnum.

ROUND 7  
The freelancer blew up a few up with a rocket launcher, before he picked up two assault rifles and killed the rest.

ROUND 8  
He just decided to run up and beat them all to death.

Many rounds later…

Maine went back to watching the idiots kill each other again before he decided call the Director.

"Yes Agent Maine?" he answered.

"Can I come home now? I've already killed them like thirteen times. I'm real sick of this."

"I am aware, we've been watching your progress. Yes, you may come back."

"Oh thank God!" the freelancer rejoiced.

"I assume that you've learned how to cope with killing, and that it will no longer be a problem?"

"Fuck yes, just take me back please!"

"Very well, Four Seven Niner will be there shortly."

* * *

"… I literally have no words for what I just witnessed." Weiss said.

"Nope." Ruby agreed and the rest nodded their heads.

"I can't believe how violent he got though." Nora told them.

"Well he wasn't exactly merciful in the forest, and I was beginning to want to shut them up myself." said Blake.

"So this is what desensitized Mr. Arc?" Glynda asked Gary.

 _"SOMEWHAT, ALTHOUGH HIS SOURCE OF BRUTALITY TOWARDS ANYONE BUT THE TROOPERS CAME LATER ON WITH A… TRAUMATIC EVENT."_

"What event?" Pyrrha asked.

 _"THE DEATH OF A FRIEND."_

The Remnant gang remained silent for a while. They knew that war could be gruesome and the loss of someone you care about was decimating, some more than others. But what could've possibly happened to Jaune to make him just stop caring about the lives of others?

* * *

Once Maine was back on board the Mother of Invention, he was greeted by North.

"Hey kid." he said.

"Hey." Maine then noticed a group of soldiers behind him.

"Allow me to introduce some friends." North continued. "The tan one is York, he's our lock-picker. He's also number two on the leaderboard."

New York waved.

"Next we got the grey guy, this here is Washington."

* * *

The professors and the two teams glared at Washington on the screen. From what Grif told them, he worked with the Reds and Blues to take Jaune down; he later betrayed them and killed one of the lazy soldier's friends. He then turned on Maine and was almost killed by him… he was also the guy Grif told them sounded close to Ozpin.

* * *

"Nice to meet you." Washington said.

"He's currently at eight." North continued.

"Next up is our number one, Carolina."

"Actually we've already met, but good to see you." she said.

"Then there's number five Wyoming, he's one of our snipers."

"Good day." he responded.

"And finally here's Tennessee, although we've taken to calling him Ol' Rocky Top."

"Because of the song and football team?" Maine asked, he had spent some time catching up on American culture.

"Actually it's because I'm an old geezer." the topic of the conversation responded.

"How old are you?"

"Older than you plus two of these guys I'll tell ya that." he said with a laugh.

"While HT is an old fart, he's currently number three on the leaderboard." Carolina told the newbie.

"What is this leaderboard anyways?" asked the future murderer.

"We'll show you." York said and they all walked into a room.

There was a giant scoreboard with names as follows: _#1 Carolina, #2 York, #3 Tennessee, #4 South Dakota, #5 Wyoming, #6 North Dakota, #7 Georgia, #8 Washington._

"There's only the top eight?" Maine asked.

"You can scroll down." Washington said as he did so.

The last two on the list were: _#9 Florida_ and _#10 Idaho._

* * *

"So they're all ranked?" Blake asked.

"That's not right," Ruby started "they should be working together instead of competing to see who's best."

* * *

"Agent Maine." the Director said as he approached the group.

They all stood at attention.

"Seeing as how you're so young and just getting over some difficulties with the killing and memory loss, I will be assigning a mentor to you."

"Really?" asked Washington. "How come you didn't do that for some of us?"

"That's because no-one else was ever technically still a child when they joined." their boss told him.

"Therefore I will be entrusting you to the care of Agent Tennessee."

"Yes sir!" the two said after looking at each other.

"Good, you are dismissed." he said before leaving.

"So I guess we're partners now." Maine told the older man.

"Seems so, I'll only take it somewhat easy on you though." he said in a friendly tone.

"Oh, dear."

* * *

 **Note: So yeah, I almost completely copied Battle Creek and added some of my own things to it. In my opinion, those guys were just way too funny to not copy.**


	11. Chapter 11: Ol' Rocky Top

**Note: So yeah, I didn't want to make a whole** **bunch** **more chapters of the Remnent crew viewing the Meta's memories so I'm putting the rest of them all in these next three. Also my computer's been acting like a turd for the past few days... so that's great. I think that this is already enough chapters going over his past as is, and I kind of want to get back to the Maine story. (Haha haha… no? Okay then, blame Yang) So make sure you have a chair pulled up with some freshly made pancakes and cookies on standby 'cause this'll take awhile. Sorry for the wait!**

 **Update: I know I said previously that I wasn't going to add in music titles in the story but I figured it may increase enjoyment... it may not idk. So I went back and updated the rest of the chapters by adding those to the fight scenes.**

 **Okay Begin!**

* * *

Maine threw a punch at Tennessee but the older man sidestepped and clocked him, making him step back. Once the world stopped spinning the newbie ran at his mentor and delivered a kick that was blocked by one of his own followed by a punch that went the same way. Maine faked out Tennessee with a punch and delivered a roundhouse kick to his side. The teen then attacked several more times with each strike being blocked before HT lowered himself to the ground and tripped the new member. As he fell, Tennessee was standing over him and quickly pulled his fist back; although it looked like slow-mo to Maine. The older man then hit the teen's head, clobbering him to the ground.

"Not bad Junior." the orange and brown soldier told him as he helped him up. "But ya still got a ways to go."

Maine nodded.

"We'll worry about that later though, for now about we get something to eat?" Tennessee said as he rubbed the top of his trainee's helmet.

It has been three days since the two were assigned to one another and Tennessee decided that it was about time he saw what Maine could do.

"Remind me, I'd like ya to meet my nephew. Ya look about seventeen so he's two years older, but I think you'll get along just fine." HT said as they walked. "By the way, had any memories come back yet?"

"Not yet." Maine replied.

Tennessee patted his back. "Don't worry, they will."

"Have you ever lost any?"

"Can't say that I have, but hey; they gotta come back sooner or later."

"I guess your right."

"How are you all getting along?" Wash asked as the two sat down for lunch.

"Pretty well." Maine replied.

"Yep. Hey Junior, I gotta say that I'm impressed. Your aim at the range was nearly perfect, and your fighting's pretty good too." Tennessee told him.

"So you think he could take on Carolina?" the grey freelancer asked jokingly.

"Hell no. Even York gets his butt whooped by her, at this point I doubt someone could ever match that girl; let alone beat her."

"How did your guy's match go by they way?" the newbie asked.

"York's got me beat in close quarters, although I'm better in marksmanship. That being said, he still won by a point."

"That close?"

"Well they are two and three after all." Wash pointed out.

"And I didn't have my dang shotgun." added the older man.

"What about when either of you fight Carolina?"

The two other freelancers remained silent.

'I guess they weren't joking about no-one being close to her level.' Maine thought.

Maine and Tennessee removed their helmets to eat, at this point Maine looked exactly the same as before whatever happened to him did. HT's face looked like a older version of Alameda Slim **(if you don't know who that is he's the villain from Disney's 'Home on the Range')** except that his red/orange hair was greying and it was cut short instead of long; he also had the long mustache and goatee. Washington still had his helmet on.

"How are you eating with that?" Maine asked.

"It's pretty easy once you get used to it." Wash told him.

The newbie was about to ask why he was even doing it in the first place when a brown armored female walked up.

"Alright boys, the Director is calling for a meeting."

"But I just sat down." Tennessee complained before getting up. "Oh by the way, Junior, Connie, Connie, Junior." he introduced the two.

"It's CT." she said somewhat annoyed.

"I'm the eldest so I'll call ya'll whatever I want." HT smirked. "Alright Junior, Washingtub, let's go."

"Did you really need to name me that?" Wash asked.

"You prefer that or car-boy?"

"… Washingtub is fine."

* * *

"Well they seem nice." Ruby remarked.

"Now, but Grif said that this Washington guy seems to do whatever benefits him." Weiss told her.

"Yeah but maybe something happened between them that we don't know about that just made Dexter dislike him."

"You mean like how he said the he killed his friend?"

Ruby sighed, she couldn't argue with that.

* * *

The top ten freelancers plus Connecticut and Maine had sat down in a closed off room and were waiting for the Director to speak, they all had their helmets off. Washington had spiky blonde hair but Maine was sitting behind him so he couldn't see his face, CT had pale skin with brown eyes and short hair that covered part of her face, Wyoming also had brown eyes but he had slicked back black hair and a mustache good enough to rival Mario and Luigi, York had brown eyes and hair somewhat similar to North's, Idaho, Georgia, and Florida's faces were hidden by the shadows of the dark room, and Carolina, who was standing behind the Director, had red hair that was pulled back into a pony tail and bright green eyes.

* * *

"Man, not only does this Carolina sound and seem to be like Pyrrha; but she looks just like her to boot!" Nora exclaimed.

Once again everyone looked at the Mistral Champion.

"Do you have a secret relative that nobody knows about?" Yang asked.

Pyrrha gave a shrug. "Sometimes you can see people that look and sound like someone else, but their not even related. It's not impossible though."

"So like if there was someone who was basically an exact copy of Renny but not related?" asked Nora.

"Yeah, like that."

"Sweet."

Ren face-palmed.

* * *

"The reason that I have gathered you all here is because we have learned the location of our next objective." said the Director. "We will be sending out two squads, Agent Carolina will give you the details."

The aqua freelancer stepped forward.

"Okay people, group one is heading back to Earth; apparently there's an Insurrectionist outpost that has data regarding their future battle plans. Group two is on a rescue mission, we are to recover Agent Oregon."

"Oregon? He was with Massachusetts and California, what about them?" Wyoming asked.

"KIA." Carolina replied.

Tennessee raised faster than the speed of a lighting bolt. "THE FUCK YOU SAY?!" he screamed. "DID YOU JUST SAY THAT MY LITTLE NEPHEW IS KIA?!"

"I'm sorry HT, I really am."

They all sat in silence, tears steaming down the latter's face.

* * *

"What's KIA?" Ruby asked.

"It means he's dead, more specifically 'killed in action'." Blake informed her leader.

"Oh… poor Tennessee."

* * *

The orange freelancer spoke up after a moment.

"How did he die?"

"They succeeded their mission, but both your nephew and California were killed when their get away ship was hit by gatling guns. Through their sacrifice we were able to get the information about squad one's objective." the Director told the freelancers.

"… Put me in squad two, I will kill every last son of a bitch there."

The other soldiers said nothing. HT loved Massachusetts like his own son and while the number three was already a force to be reckoned with... it was about to rain blood.

"Very well."

"Okay, here's our teams." Carolina once again spoke up. "Squad one consists of Georgia, North, and CT; squad two is Me, Wash, HT, Maine, and Idaho. The rest of you are on standby in case one or both of us needs help."

After briefing, everyone collected their helmets and split up. Squad two was on Four Seven Niner's ship and Maine had put something inside his helmet, but Gamma sped up the time to when they landed. Tennessee was the first to get up and was almost at the exit when Washington put hand on his shoulder. The two nodded and left together.

"Alright, let's get moving." Carolina commanded.

They walked until they reached the facility. Carolina nodded at Washington and Maine, the latter's armor changed from white and brown to black and red; then they approached two guards while the other freelancers hid.

* * *

"Woah!" Yang exclaimed. "That is cool."

"I know right! His armor just changed!" her sister agreed.

"How is that possible?" Glynda asked.

"EACH FREELANCER HAD A SPECIAL PIECE OF EQUIPMENT THAT THE OTHERS DID NOT, AGENT MAINE"S WAS ADAPTIVE CAMOUFLAGE." Gary explained.

* * *

"Halt!" one soldier yelled.

"What is the meaning of this?" the grey freelancer asked.

"I can have you terminated for raising your weapons to superiors."

"You're not our superiors!" the other guard yelled. "We don't even know who you are!"

"I'm warning you, you have three seconds before I call HQ." Washington threatened. "Three, two…"

The guards gave each other glances before lowering their weapons.

"Sorry sirs. We just haven't seen you around so we just figured…" one apologized.

"It's fine. We're here to check this week's shipment."

"Yes sir. Right this way." The two led them inside.

As soon as they were a few yards away, the other freelancers snuck by. Once in the building, Washington and Maine pretended to make sure everything was in order and made mental notes of the equipment inside. They were going to need it to get out.

"We got these in today." one Resistance fighter told his "superiors" and led them to some Warthogs.

"Any problems with them?" Maine asked, his voice extremely deep.

* * *

"Why is he talking like that?" Ren asked.

"I believe it's a voice filter, probably to make him more intimidating." Blake responded.

"Well it's working." said Ruby.

* * *

"No sir. We took them out for a test drive and they worked just fine."

As Maine was talking to the two soldiers Carolina called the freelancers via radio.

 _"Alright boys, it's about to get loud."_ she told them.

As soon as she finished her sentence there was a loud explosion. The four looked outside and the west wing of the facility had a pretty decent sized hole and was on fire.

"You two head that way, we'll make sure the prisoner is still there!" Wash told them.

The two Insurrectionists ran out and the freelancers grabbed some grenades and rocket launchers before jumping into the two Warthog's.

"Why are there six pedals?!" Maine asked.

"I don't freaking know, just hit the top left one!" his companion yelled.

After trial and error by both of them, they got out and headed to the center of the base. Washington waited with the cars and Maine ran inside. He made it onto the second floor when a bunch of Insurrectionists pointed their guns at him. Unlike the other two, they knew he wasn't supposed to be there.

 **[Play: Boss Battle - By: Jeff Williams]**

Maine reached for his magnum when Tennessee busted through the window from a zipline and kicked some of the soldiers over. While they were distracted, Maine shot one in the head before sidestepping out of the way of a punch. He hit the back of the attacking soldier's head, making him fall down the stairs. The two partners fought the remaining one's until HT Sparta kicked the last one out the window.

"Looks like I almost missed the party." he remarked. "C'mon, let's go get Oregon."

With that they headed towards the cell bay from the map Maine picked up in the warehouse, he also gave HT the sticky grenades that he picked up. They reached the cells and killed the guards before they found the captured freelancer. Oregon's helmet was lying on the floor of the room and he himself was barley sitting up against a wall.

He had blood stained on his purple and blue armor and had a black eye, a bloodied nose, and a scar across his mouth in the shape of a half smile. Maine shot the security scanner and the door opened, allowing him to enter the room. "He's barley hanging on!" the newbie yelled to his partner that was guarding his back. "Let's get him out then!" HT replied before talking into his radio.

"Carol, we got him. Go ahead and get going, we'll be gone shortly."

Maine picked the horribly injured man up and carried him out after he put his helmet back on him.

Tennessee killed every last attacking or retreating soldier until they got outside. Washington was still waiting, though there were several Resistance corpses around him. Maine put Oregon in one of the passenger seats and Washington jumped in the driver's while the teen took the gunner. They drove off and Tennessee was in front of them in the second Warthog.

Nothing seemed to be coming for them until three Mantis class assault droids rammed through the walls one their side.

"Incoming!" Maine yelled.

He pulled the triggers and blasted one to pieces after several hits, one of it's allies shot the turret and destroyed it; Maine had three bullets tear straight through his torso. He let out a scream of pain and almost fell off the car.

"Maine!" Washington yelled.

Tennessee quickly spun his car around headed straight for the droids. "I ain't losing anyone else to you shits!" he screamed.

"Wait what are you…?!" the grey freelancer started to ask.

But the older man put a rock on the gas pedal and jumped out of the car, it crashed into one of the remaining Mantis's and destroyed it. The final droid shot rockets at him but he managed to take cover behind a steel crate. Washington swung the car around and Maine slowly stood back up, pulled the rocket launcher off his back, and fired two shots. The Mantis took some damage but was still functioning.

While it tried to get a lock on Washington, Tennessee clicked a button on his suit that released a grappling hook from his wrist, **(like Boba or Jango Fett)** that went into it's leg, and ran around it till it tripped on the wire from the restricted movement. He quickly retracted the grapple and threw the belt of stickies that he got from Maine underneath it. Wash was driving up as this happened and HT jumped on the back with the injured teen. They drove off as it the Mantis blew up behind them.

"And that kids is why we don't piss off HT." Washington said. They kept driving and the memory ended.

 **[Music end]**

* * *

"That. Was. AWESOME!" Ruby yelled.

Even Weiss nodded at her statement.

"I can't believe that Jaune actually survived those shots though." Pyrrha said.

"Alright everyone, that's enough for today. We don't want to wear Gary out too much do we?" Ozpin stated.

"So what do you want to do now?" Yang asked as the teens walked out into the hall.

"How about we go shopping?" suggested Weiss.

"Sounds okay I guess."

"You guys go ahead, I'm going to stop by the Emerald Forest for some training. **Just something about that memory made me want to shed some…! I mean fight**. Later." Ruby said before turning around and leaving.

Her friends watched her as she walked away.

"What's up with her?" Nora asked.

"Don't know, but she's been acting kind of weird for the past few days." Yang replied.

"She's not the only one." Weiss commented.

The rest of them then noticed that a certain faunus was gone.

* * *

Ruby was now in the forest and was looking for some grimm to battle.

 **'Come out you insolent fools! I want to see what this kid can do on her own!'** O'Mally thought to himself.

He knew that the reaper was powerful, he just wanted to see how much strength she actually had. Finally a beowolf came out of the trees! Ruby pulled out her scythe and waited for the beast to charge. Once it did, it was game over for it. It had ran at her and she shot Crescent Rose behind her to give her more power in her swing, she effortlessly cut it in half.

An hour later...

Ruby became tired as time went on, so Omega reluctantly decided that it was time to stop. He was however pretty happy with what they did, Ruby had slain eleven of the creatures before the AI couldn't contain himself any longer and took the wheel, killing many more.

"That was fun, although I'm not sure were that evil sounding laugh came from earlier." the teen girl said.

 **'… Shit.'** the AI of rage thought.

He may have gone a little overboard. They then headed back up to the dorms when they were finished.

* * *

The students were down at breakfast the next morning when Grif showed up.

"Hey Dex." Yang said.

"Hey." he replied as he sat down.

"Do you ever take that armor off?" Pyrrha asked the soldier.

"What, you want me to strip?"

"You know that's not what she meant!" Weiss snapped.

"Jeeze princess, it was a joke. Where's your sense of humor?" the sim trooper asked.

Ren decided that it was best to change the subject. "So, how are you enjoying Beacon?"

"Are you kidding me? I fucking love this place! Free food, I don't get shot at, no one from my team is here, I don't have to do exercises or go to meetings, there's no blues, I can take as many naps as I want, there's no Sarge…"

"I think we get the picture." Pyrrha spoke up in her "okay we get it but I'm still going to be nice about it" voice.

"Really? 'Cause I can keep going."

"That's okay." Yang told him.

Grif shrugged and went back to eating.

"So what kind of flashbacks do you think we'll see today?" Nora asked enthusiastically.

"Flashbacks?" Grif asked, his face stuffed.

"Oh, Gary is showing us Jaune's memories so that we can know what happened to him." Ruby replied.

"Who's Gary?"

* * *

The teens and Grif headed over to the infirmary and were about to enter when they heard another new voice.

"For the last time. I. Am. Not. An. AI!"

"Church?" Grif asked before walking into the room.

Sure enough, Lenard Church was standing on Ironwood's scroll and yelling about whether or not he was an AI.

"Okay fine, I guess you being a spirit makes more sense?" Ozpin asked.

"Fuck yeah it does! It's way less geeky asshole."

"A spirit?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"A ghost?"

"Boo, motherfucker." Church paused for a second. "Man, I just had the strangest sense of deja vu."

He turned around to see Grif and a bunch of kids. "Grif? The hell are you here?" The orange soldier let out an annoyed sigh.

"Through lot's of bullshit."

"So, same as usual then?"

"Yep."

"You know this guy?" Weiss asked him.

"Yeah, this is Church; the leader of blue team."

"So how are you here?" Grif asked the "ghost".

"I don't fucking know. One minute I'm fighting off eight AI by myself in the Meta's head and the next I'm in a lab talking to Commander Dickhead." Church replied.

"General Ironwood." the cyborg replied angrily.

"Yeah, whatever. Where are we anyways?"

Ozpin then explained how he and Grif were now on an unmarked planet called Remnant and that the Meta was one of his students. Church's reaction was almost exactly the same as the orange soldier's. The general and Church then continued to argue if the latter was an AI or not and Grif took his side... Ozpin just decided to say nothing more and watch the events unfold. That being said, Church won by default as his opponent gained a headache from the conversation and the cyborg eventually left.

"So... are we going to see what happened next now?" Nora asked.

"Huh?" asked Church.

He had moved over to Grif's AI slot in his helmet because he couldn't figure out how to get back to his regular size.

"Oh yeah, so who's this Gary guy?" Grif asked.

The next thing that happened made Church lose his mind.

 _"KNOCK KNOCK, CHURCH."_ Gary said as he made himself known.

"OH SHIT NO!" the Alpha screamed. "WHY THE HELL IS HE HERE?!"

"Hey, he sounds like that computer from the place with the windmill." Grif said.

"THAT'S BECAUSE IT IS HIM! HE WAS ALSO FUCKING WYOMING'S AI!"

"The freelancer who tried to kidnap Tucker's monstrosity of a child and use it to enslave an entire alien race with your girlfriend?"

 _"THAT IS CORRECT."_ Gary replied and everyone from Remnant was even more confused.

Church face-palmed. "Why are you even alive Gamma, much less here?" he asked.

 _"I WAS STRUCK BY LIGHTNING AND RECHARGED."_

"Oh, that's fucking great."

Church kept asking questions but the situation seemed even more unrealistic as Ruby turned to look at Grif.

He was in a recliner, his feet crossed as they were propped up, several chips/desserts at his feet, had a bottle of beer in the chair's cup-holder, and was lighting a cigarette. The rest of RWBY and Team NPR noticed that their friend was staring at something and ended up looking themselves, this in turn attracted the attention of the others. Grif didn't notice all the eyes watching him until he finally got his cigarette lit.

"Hey, if I'm gonna watch TV I might as well do it right." he announced.

Glynda stomped over to him, grabbed his cigarette and beer, and threw them in the trash.

"Fuck you lady." he told her.

She turned around only to see him with one more of each and the new cigarette already under his helmet as he blew out smoke. The blonde professor had to be stopped by Ozpin from killing the sim trooper as he gave her the bird. While she was turned around, a flash of light emerged from both of Grif's hands and the new items had appeared.

"Now Glynda, I am going to haft to ask you to refrain from ending this man's life." the headmaster said. Goodwitch relaxed and let out a sigh.

"I am seriously regretting unlocking his aura."

"And after you did I found out my semblance pretty quickly, it's fucking awesome!" Grif said happily.

"What is your semblance anyways? I've never seen anything like it." Pyrrha told him.

"I'm calling it storage. Basically I can put my items in some sort of space and bring them back out whenever I want... At least that's how your teachers explained it." **(similar to Erza's magic from Fairy Tail)**

"Where did you buy that stuff anyways?" Weiss asked.

"Buy? The hell do you mean buy? None of you would give me any fucking money. I even offered to take credit cards!" Grif told them.

The Schnee heiress scoffed. "Could you possibly be any worse?!"

"Is that a challenge ice-queen?"

Now Weiss had to be held back. After some more arguing everyone finally calmed down and they turned the memories back on.

* * *

One year after the previous memory...

Maine, Tennessee, Wyoming, and North were all playing cards. HT won and took the lot, making the others throw down their cards in annoyance. He just collected three hundred dollars.

"Round two?" Maine asked and they all agreed.

"You know there's something I've been meaning to tell ya boys." Tennessee said.

"That you have a cheating mechanism?" North joked.

"Well actually it's something else. I don't know if you noticed but I'm getting pretty dang old."

Everyone including him laughed.

"Yeah, we've noticed." Wyoming mocked.

"Well in all seriousness, the reason I'm bringing this up is because I'm retiring." Tennessee said.

"What?" Maine asked.

"I can't do some of these jobs anymore, and I've fallen a few places on the leaderboard. Now I've spoken to the Director and we came to an agreement on one last job before I take my leave."

North placed his hand on his shoulder. "Then let's make it a good one, and don't forget to send us cards from whatever home they put you in."

They all laughed again and HT flipped him off. Maine didn't know how to feel. On one hand HT can finally have a peaceful life again, but on the other he didn't want him to go. He had been his father-figure throughout the teen's time in the project.

Maine, Tennessee, Wyoming, South, and Wash were sent on a mission a few hours later. They breached the surface of the desert planet Talitsa and prepared to jump. The mission was to take down the Resistance suppliers that resided there. Wyoming walked up to a Mongoose that was inside the Pelican, unhooked it, climbed on, and started it up as the hanger door opened.

"I would just like you all to know that this bloody plan is idiotic and I sincerely hate whoever's idea this was." the moustached man said.

"Oh, get over it." South told him.

"You know, sometimes I forget that you are a lady. It's confusing to me that I can do that seeing as how much of a bitch you are all the time."

"THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?!"

Before she could finish her sentence, the British man drove out of the ship. The other three were snickering until she shot them a look, shutting them up. A few minutes later Wyoming called on the radios.

 _"Okay. The buildings are all connected on the mid floors and the one on the far left has a helipad that can be used for extraction. They have a tank on the ground but that seems to be the only real defense they have down there. There are a few sniper towers but that shouldn't be a problem for much longer. Finally there are two warehouses but I'm not sure as to what's inside."_

"Got it. Don't seem to be expecting guests do they?" Wash reponded.

"Well they are in the middle of a planet that was decimated buring the war." HT said.

"Still, doesn't this seem a little too easy?" Maine asked.

The others stopped preping their gear and stared at him.

"I've just doomed us all haven't I?"

"Alright, entering the drop zone!" The pilot called back.

The freelancers put on their helmets/jetpacks and grabbed their guns before jumping out. The four only used the packs seconds before they hit the ground, but when they did they departed into two groups and Maine and Tennessee crashed through the windows of one of the storage facilities. Wyoming had taken out the snipers while using a surpressor to keep quiet. Once inside, the two freelancers raised their battle rifles and killed the guards inside. The warehouse was filled with weapons and some vehicles.

The two then began to throw what York had liked to call "future cubes" at the supplies with the frequency set back to the Mother of Invention's own storage compartment. Maine stopped when he had noticed that a soldier was still alive and had limped over to the alarm. The freelancer raised his weapon but managed to shoot him after the button had been pushed. He froze for a second afterwards. He still hated killing, he didn't mind the reds and blues at Battle Creek because they were annoying and just came back to life anyways.

"Aww balls." Tennessee complained. "Time to go Junior!"

"What about the rest of the resources?" Maine asked.

"Safety first kid!"

When they flew outside they were surprised to see about a hundred guards, some in vehicles, and three more tanks were present.

"Where did these guys come from?!"

Maine asked.

"Must've been a trap." his partner responded.

Thankfully the guards never looked up, that is until they heard yelling.

 **[Play: End of the Beginning - By: Jeff Williams]**

"The fuck did you idiots do?!" South screamed as her and Washington approched the other pair.

The gaurds looked upwards immediatly and the freelancers quickly noticed as they raised their guns.

"Really South? Really?" Tennessee asked in an annoyed tone.

"Shit." the light-purple freelancer said before they all had to retreat.

Wash's pack was hit pretty quickly and he yelled as he was sent all over the place and eventually crashed into the hood of an unoccupied Warthog.

"South, you help him while we keep some of 'em occupied!" HT yelled.

"Uhgg... Fine!" She groaned before going to help out the grey freelancer.

Maine and Tennessee quickly spun back towards the Insurrectionist suppliers and opened fire. The former pulled out a grenade and dropped it on a group's heads before they landed in the same spot.

"So how come you didn't giver her a nickname?!" Maine asked as they shot at enemies while back to back.

"Didn't need to! Her name's fitting cause everytime she opens her mouth things go south!" his partner replied.

The two flew off again when a tank rolled up, it would've hit them if it were any faster. A Falcon rose up in front of the retreating freelancers but the pilot got shot in the head and it crashed before he could do anything.

"Why the hell do you morons get jetpacks and I had to drive off the damn ship?!" Wyoming yelled as he was standing in a sniper tower.

He then had to jump off when another tank shot at him. Maine managed to catch the mustached man and the three busted through one of the building windows and began taking cover inside.

"Pilot, we need extration ASAP!" Tennessee yelled into his helmet mic. "Damnit, the signal is being jammed!"

"What do we do?!" Maine asked.

"We fight until we either die or our guys realize that something's wrong."

Just then they heard the sound of running footsteps.

"Let us hope it's that first option." Wyoming said as he reloaded and walked towards the noise. He shot the first soldier to appear around the corner right between the eyes and quickly put his sniper rifle on his back and pulled out two SMGs. The three freelancers held off both sides of the hallway until one of the enemies shot a rocket launcher and HT was hit in the arm.

"Son of a bitch!" The older man yelled as he took cover.

"You okay?!" Maine worriedly asked as he ran to his partner's aid and gave him cover fire.

Tennessee looked at his right arm, it wasn't hit directly but it was bloodied and he couldn't move it.

"She's a goner. Well, at least I have one scar for retirement." he replied.

"Need me to get you a chair grandpa?" Maine joked.

HT smirked underneath his helmet. "Only after we get your diaper changed."

Tennessee then pulled his shotgun off his back with his good arm and jumped from cover.

Eventually the soldiers stopped coming and the three got a break. Maine had been hit in the side and Wyoming's visor was cracked. The British man was looking through the scope on his long ranged weapon and spotted the other two members of their party.

"Looks like they're fairing better." he commented.

 **[Music stop]**

Three Pelican's then descended from the sky and opened fire on the Insurrectionist forces outside.

"Took them long enough." HT said. "Alright boys, up to the roof!"

The three had to fight off a few more soldiers until the made it up top. A Pelican lowered itself to them and they were about to board when the ship suddenly took fire and exploded.

* * *

RWBY, NPR, and Glynda let out gasps and looks of horror when they watched the ship go up in flames. They saw as Jaune had his helmet blown off and rolled along the ground, Wyoming slammed into a pole, and Tennessee landed on his leg in a way that made all the memory viewers feel it.

* * *

Maine had blacked out out for a few seconds but when he came to, the world was spinning for him and he couldn't hear a thing. He slowly stood and shook his head, allowing his senses to come back after a little while. The teen then noticed that a gatling gun on one of the towers was pointed at him.

"Aww, what the fuck?" he moaned before running.

He managed to get to safety after outrunning the shots and slid behind a crate. Another Pelican arrived and blew the thing up and Wash and South jumped out with the former running to Maine and the latter towards the unconscious Wyoming.

"You okay?!" the grey freelancer asked.

"Yeah. Wait, HT!"

The two then sped towards the orange freelancer who still lay on the ground. Maine helped the older man up and he put his arm around the teen for support. A loud blast was heard and the Pelican had to retreat as it was about to be blown apart by tanks.

"We're not going anywhere with those bastards targeting our ship." Wash stated.

"Where's the other one?" Maine asked.

"Shot down by these things, so we're down to one."

"... One last job." they heard Tennessee mutter.

 **[Play: Forever - By: Jeff Williams]**

"I want you boys to get with the others and get to where the ship can land."

Maine and Wash looked at him like he was insane.

"What are you talking about?!" replied the former.

HT responded by pulling his arm off Maine and took off his helmet, dropping it on the ground. He never turned to his friends but Maine could still see the older man's face. HT had blood dripping down from his mouth, was bleeding from his left eye, and his face was deprived of most of it's color.

"That's an order."

"You, can't be serious." Wash said.

"You kids get going now, or we're all gonna die. Once those tanks are gone y'all should have a safe exit, and someone needs to keep the gaurds occupied. I'll be damned before I let either of you boys do it, especially when I'm most likely not gonna heal anyway and I've lived out my life. Now get."

Tennessee told them. Maine's eyes watered and the older man turned to his comrades. They saluted eachother before the other two reluctantly turned and hid behind the crate from earlier with South and the K.O.'d Wyoming.

"Where's Tennessee?" she asked.

Wash let out a pained sigh. "Giving us the help we need to get out of here."

Ol' Rocky Top had grabbed multiple belts of grenades, attached them to his body, and began limping towards the edge when more Resistance fighters arrived.

"Freeze!" one yelled.

HT put his hands up and kept limping backwards to the edge.

"Stop moving!"

His plan was working. As the gaurds were distracted, the other freelancers snuck by and made their way to the landing platform once again. Maine watched as HT made his way to the edge and stopped. "Cuff him." the group of soldiers leader ordered. Before the guy got there, Tennessee did a two finger salute and fell backwards. The tanks on the ground didn't notice the man falling to his death until it was too late. Tennessee landed in between the vehicles and they all exploded.

 **[Music stop]**

An hour later the team was back on the Mother of Invention and had been spoken to by the Director.

"FILSS, remove Agent Tennessee's name from the scoreboard and transfer it to the secondary." he said.

All the main freelancers minus Wyoming watched as Tennessee's name was deleted from the scoreboard and put onto another screen that listed the deaths of other freelancers.

 _*Agent Tennessee: KIA: Rank #5*_ is what it read.

The Director walked out of the room and a moment of silence was given.

Maine sat in a chair and tears streamed down his face as he looked at his mentor's helmet. He stared into the golden visor that came up around the entire front unlike most helmets. The teen slowly lifted his head and put the helmet on. It turned from orange to white and he let out a pained growl. He promised himself to train until he became so powerful, that he'd never lose anyone important to him again. The memory ended.

* * *

Everyone was at a loss for words as to what they just witnessed.

"... Was that the tramatic thing you talked about Gary?" Nora eventually asked.

 _"YES, THIS MOMENT IN TIME BECAME THE MAIN SOURCE OF HIS BRUTALITY."_ Gamma responded. It hurt teams RWBY and NPR to see their friend hurting like that, and they even felt his pain from the time that he was gone himself.

* * *

 **Note: So I will admit that this chapter is not my favorite, but I thought it might be a good way to show why Maine went from acting like himself to more destructive and cruel. The next two chapters will be covering his time in RvB, meaning seasons 6-10 plus Recovery One and the season 6 trailer. Later.**


	12. Bonus 1: Yang vs Meta (extended)

**Note: Here's something for the wait. Thank you all for your support! This takes place during chapter #2 before NPR arrive to help fight the Meta.**

 **Okay Begin!**

* * *

 **[Play: I Burn - By: Jeff Williams]**

Yang and the Meta struck eachothers faces. The latter tried to deliver a roundhouse but the former ducked under it and delivered several blows to her target's back. The Meta turned, socked her face, delivered an uppercut, and gave a headbutt. Yang stumbled back and the killer ran at her, jumped, and kicked her with both legs. The brawler got back up and wiped blood from her nose.

"My turn." she said.

The two charged and the Meta started to swing but Yang was faster. The yellow-haired firecracker delivered her own uppercut and blasted her opponent over and over again, making him rise into the air. He eventually got so high up that the firey fighter jumped with all her might and even used he gauntlets for more power and still only rasied above the beast of a man by a foot.

"HYAAA!" she yelled.

She punched/blasted his nuts and sent him to the ground below, making a crater where he landed. The Meta's armor began to spark.

'What. In the. Hell? How did she manage to break my overshield?! I guess I underestemated her, I need to chang my stratagy.' he thought.

Yang's face grew a smirk as she saw the protective shield break, mistaking it for his aura.

"This fight's over." she said as she walked towards the man in the crater.

'Not yet it's not.'

The former freelancer waited until she brawler reached for his helmet as he pretended to be knocked out. Once she got close enough he quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her in for another headbutt. She tried to blast him but he dodged and swung one of his legs under hers, knocking her off balance. The brute then quickly kicked her side with his other one. Yang recovered and attacked relentlessly but her opponent managed to dodge most of the attacks.

He had figured out that she uses little to no defence in her fighting technique and he waited for the perfect moment to strike. When the opportunity presented itself he delivered a blow to her side and swung at her head but she dodged and struck his chest.

She tried to hit him again but he sidestepped and hit the back of her head. Yang took another swing at him but the Meta blocked and kicked her stomach, he wasn't done there however. The Meta waited for her to attack again and kicked the side of her leg before delivering two strikes to her head and chest before kicking the brawler square in the face and sent her through a tree.

"H-how are you still *gasp* going? Your a-aura broke." Yang said as she breathed heavily.

She tried to get up and the former freelancer kicked her stomach again, making her fall back down.

"I can't lose. I won't let you beat me." she told him.

The Meta responded by gripping the back of her neck and one of her legs and raised her above his head. He bent and raised his leg while he quickly put the girl foward and dropped her on top of it. Yang screamed as pain struck her back and her aura broke.

 **[Music stop]**

The Meta growled and looked at the girl on the ground for a second.

'Now it's over. I'll tie one up and wait for them to regain consciousness so they can take me to Washington, then I can rip the bastard's throat open.' he thought.

However the next thing he knew, something strong collided with his spine and he was sent flying.

'Son of a bitch!'

* * *

 **Note: Hope you enjoyed this little extra and I will probably do a few more while I'm working on the longer chapters. I also want to get you guys involed in the next story I make so I want to do a vote. I'm not sure when I'll actually get around to making it but I want to hear your guys's opinions. These are just some things that have entered my mind and I think they would all be fun and I'm excited to see what you have to say (if no-one says anything then I'm choosing). I am not ending A Life Forgotten, just want to make that clear. As per usual thanks for reading and hope to see you in the next one. :D**

 **Option #1: Church from Red vs Blue in My Little Pony**

 **Option #2: A RWBY OC**

 **Option #3: Hetalia and My Little Pony crossover**

 **Option #4: Fairy Tail (more specifically about Mirajane and her demonic magic)**

 **(Yes I'm a brony, no I'm not afraid to admit it)**


	13. Bonus 2: A Look at Red Team

**Note: This short takes place right before chapter 12.**

 **Okay Begin!**

* * *

Maine was on the _training_ floor punching the holographic green circles that spun around him.

"Again." he huffed.

 _"Agent Maine, you've done nothing but train all night. You should get some rest."_ FILLS told him.

"Again." Maine repeated and the trial restarted.

He didn't want to sleep, he didn't need it. All he needed was to get stronger. The teen had done everything from jumping jacks to flipping Warthog tires, and he was going to keep at it until he passed out. He had already vomited a few times in the night and he was so busy in his training that he didn't notice someone walk up behind him.

"You're up early." York said.

"H-hey *huff* York. Wha-*pant* what's up?" Maine asked as he was bent over with his hands on his knees and basically gasping for breath.

"Are you okay? You look like you just got flung around by a Gúta." the tan freelancer told him.

"I'm *cough* good."

"You don't look or sound like it."

 _"Agent Maine has done nothing but train all night, he refuses to rest."_ FILLS informed the number two.

"Is that so?" he asked. Then he came to a realization. "This is because of HT isn't it?"

Maine looked down and York knew the answer. He walked up to the teen and patted him on the back.

"Come on."

"Wh- *gasp* where are we going?"

"To get a drink. I understand that your angry and want revenge, I really do. But I don't think the old man would want you to kill yourself over it."

Maine slowly nodded. York was right, Tennessee would probably have chewed him out for working so hard to the point where he made himself sick.

"I'm underage though." he finally said.

York laughed. "Hey, if you're old enough to join us on the battlefield, then you're old enough to get a beer... and I'm already pretty sure I saw the dick give you part of his whiskey stash."

* * *

Once again everyone was in the infirmary the next day and began watching Jaune's past play out... although this time it was in the afternoon because Grif wanted to watch because it looked cool.

"Hold on, I just thought of something." he said after they had seen York and Maine head off. "Can Gamma jump into my memories real quick? I just remembered about how I used to get Donut to make oreos whenever we ran out so I want to write down the recipe."

Everyone just looked at him for a little while before they agreed out of curiosity of the orange soldier's life. Church left the AI slot and jumped into Weiss's scroll so Gary could get in Grif's helmet.

"This should be good." Yang stated.

* * *

When the TV flashed back on they were greeted to a pink soldier in an apron and chef's hat listing off ingredients.

"Okay, so we got coco powder, eggs, salt..."

Then they heard another new soldier speak. "What the hell are you guys doing? Wait, is Donut cooking again? I swear if it's another heart cake I'm going to pound my fist into it."

"I love a good pounding." the man now identified as Donut said.

* * *

"What is this?" Blake asked.

"Yeahhh... we should've given you a heads up first. That's completely our bad." Church said.

"What?" Ruby asked.

"Nothing!" Yang quickly replied.

* * *

The maroon soldier facepalmed. "I walked right into that."

"Yeah you did, that's your own fault dude." Grif agreed.

"Seriously though, what's he making?"

"Oreos."

"Oh I get it, we ran out of your precious cookies so you're having Donut make them from scratch instead of doing his job huh fatass?"

"Hey, fuck you Simmons. His 'job' (Grif made air quotes) is screaming like a girl while on the battlefield, and last I checked; we're not fighting at the moment."

"He's supposed to be on gaurd duty!"

"What the fuck his he supposed to be gaurding?! Our base doesn't have a door, we don't have anything useful besides the Warthog, which I will remind you is constantly getting blown the fuck up, and we're so shitty that the blues could just walk right over and kill us if they weren't so busy doing that to themselves already!" Grif argued.

"What's going on in here?!" a gruff sounding man asked before walking in.

"Grif is having Donut avoid gaurd duty sir!" Simmons reported while saluting.

"You are such a kissass." Grif told the maroon soldier.

"Grif isn't doing his duties and has gotton someone else to quit as well? Stop the fucking presses. What's he having Princess Peach do?" the red soldier asked.

"I'm making oreos! Want some Sarge?" Donut exclaimed.

"He's using up valuable time making cookies that could be spent on something productive, he spends more time making food than actually..." Simmons started.

"Ah kiss my ass some other time. I was actually about to get him in here anyways. Donut! While you're at it, make me a strawberry yoohoo." Sarge told him.

"You got it!" the lightish-red soldier responded.

The memory ended.

* * *

"Yes!" Grif exclaimed. "Oreos here I come!"

He got up to leave when Yang grabbed his wrist and pulled him back down.

"Hey, we waited hours for you to get here. So can you just make those after?" she asked.

"Uhg... Fine." the orange soldier sighed.


	14. Chapter 12: The Fall of Maine

**Note: This took longer than I wanted to come out but I'm having to type it on my phone 'cause my computer's still having issues, I also had to edit most of this thing for the writing style. If anyone doesn't read the bonuses this takes place after bonus #2. This is RvB seasons 9 & 10\. I know I said I wasn't going to write it this way but I've thought over it some more and I give in because I do want to make it as enjoyable as possible so I also updated all the previous chapters. Also I know that there might be some of you who don't like the memory viewing chapters but I promise that there will be only one more after this.**

 **Okay Begin!**

* * *

 _"T_ _HIS NEXT PLAYBACK IS ANOTHER YEAR AFTER THE PREVIOUS EVENTS AND A NEW AGENT HAS CHALLENGED AGENT'S MAINE AND WYOMING TO A DUAL."_ Gamma informed everyone after he went back to the machine and Maine's memories restarted.

* * *

 **[Play: Round One - By: Jeff Williams]**

 _"Three, two, one, round begin."_ FILLS announced.

Maine, Wyoming and York all ran at the new freelancer that was mentioned with pugle sticks but were knocked to the ground immediately. The three got up and charged back at the new agent but she knocked both Maine and York down again and had Wyoming in a choke hold across her back. The two buddies stood back up but in a quick motion, the black armored freelancer dropped the mustached man and clobbered them once again.

Wyoming took a swing at her head but she ducked and hit him in the leg, torso, and shoulder before smacking his head back. York then attacked but was blocked and sent flying back after two hits. Maine did a spinning attack although the newbie jumped back to avoid it. He tried to slam the staff on her head but she blocked and hit both his sides. She dodged the next swing but the now brute of a man quickly pulled his arms up and hit her shoulder. The newbie then delivered two blows to his head.

Maine tried once again to slam the electric stick down on her skull but she pulled off her own spinning attack and brought her staff down on his head before hitting back up with the stick's other side; her staff snapped in half from the impact. The new member began to walk away and dropped the remaining half of the weapon as Maine stood back up, however he was barely managing to do so and stumbled around before falling back down on his face.

 _"Round one over. Pugle sticks training complete. Point awarded to Texas. The current score is Team One zero points, Texas one point."._ FILLS announced.

 **[Music stop]**

* * *

"Wow... They got destroyed." commented Yang. "This Texas chick is pretty good."

"Meh, could just be beginner's luck." Nora said.

"Nope, she's just that much of a baddass. And you know what else?" Church asked.

The teens shook their heads.

"That's my fucking girfriend." he happily told them.

Sure he was still kind of mad about her leaving them back in Blood Gulch, but he wasn't going to miss out on some points to prove his awesomeness. The others stared at him in disbelief until they got confermation from Grif. Yang and Nora smirked and gave the proclaimed ghost a thumbs up.

"Has anyone noticed how buff Jaune is now though? I mean, he's much bigger than from the previous memory. He's almost the same size as from the forest." Pyrrha pointed out.

The others looked back at the freelancer as he pulled himself back up and walked to the prep room after giving York a hand.

"I guess you're right, but of course you were the one to point that out." Yang said with a smirk and Pyrrha blushed.

Church couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Holy. Shit. She has a crush on the Meta. That... doesn't seem right."

"Well, while you know him as some sort of bloodthirsty killer; we know his as our quirky and somewhat weak leader and friend!" Nora told him before showing the Alpha a picture on her scroll, mumbling the "somewhat weak" part to herself.

Church looked back and fourth between the image and the memory.

"You mean to tell me that this guy, this guy in the picture, him specifically... is the Meta?" he asked.

"Yep! He's also on the bed behind you if you don't believe me."

Church looked at the broken teen and turned back around. Ozpin had already told him that Jaune was one of his students, but the picture and the real life thing... looked completely different.

"What the fuck? Is this like some shitty fanfiction or something?"

* * *

"Well, that was awful." Maine stated.

"We got our asses handed to us, and I refuse to let a new recruit beat me." added Wyoming.

"Cheer up guys, there's still nine rounds left." York assured them and the headed back out onto the floor.

 **[Play: Bullfight - By: Jeff Williams]**

 _"Beginning had to hand combat. Round two in five, four, three, two, one, round two begin."_ FILLS said.

The trio were in a formation with York up front.

"Okay guys, this one should be easy. Maine, how about you flank left and..." the tan freelancer started to say but the giant ran straight at their opponent and got launched back. "Or you could just charge and get immobilized first. Okay, Wyoming; let's stick together and..."

York started again but the British freelancer did the exact same thing as Maine, he even got the same results.

"What's the story? Am I the only one on this team that knows how to talk?" the last man standing asked as he looked back at them.

The new freelancer walked up to him and replied.

"I don't think talking's your problem."

"Oh no!"

York dodged a punch, the next one hit him directly in the gut and sent him flying back. Tex kicked Wyoming's head as he was getting back up and managed to block a swing from Maine, hit his head downward, and stepped to the side. Maine failed to elbow her so she clocked his face and punched his head down again. The teen threw another punch that was also blocked and he took a blow to the back of the head.

He swung one more time but it was a fake out. When she moved her arms to block, he used his other arm to break it by delivering an uppercut that also hit her head and made her step back. Maine swung again but she grabbed his arm and in a swift motion, threw him over her shoulder and kicked him into Wyoming. York tried to kick their opponent and they blocked eachother several times before Texas punched him in the gut again, jabbed his torso with her elbow, spun around, and slammed him into the ground with her fist.

The three got back up and the tan freelancer started taking again.

"Okay guys, that obviously didn't work so well. How about this time we stay in formation instead of... Damnit."

The two white armored freelancers ran back at Texas while York was speaking.

"I can't believe I actually volunteered for this crap."

He the joined them. Once again Maine's attack was blocked and he got kicked in the spleen. Wyoming ran up and got punched to the ground immediately. York and Tex blocked eachother a few more times before the latter punched the back of the former's head and made him fall to the floor, she used her leg to trip Maine in the same motion. She then rolled on her back, kicked York's head with both of her feet, got up to punch Maine in the balls, blocked a hit from Wyoming, and clobbered him away.

She blocked another strike from York, kicked him in the head, dodged a blow from Maine, uppercutted him away, continued to block the tan freelancer before punching his side, blocked a swing from Wyoming, kicked them both in the face, kicked Maine in the nuts, and blocked/dodged strikes from all three of them at once as they circled her.

Texas hit Maine in the balls again making him scream in his mind 'Oh come on!', blocked York before uppercutting him, blocked two strikes from Wyoming, and ducked from Maine's punch so that he hit the British man square in the face. She then jumped up and at the same time, clobbered the back of his head and kicked Maine's. Finally, she then ran up, jumped in the air, and knocked down York via kicking his head as well.

 **[Music end]**

 _"Round over. Point Texas. Hand to hand combat complete. Now resetting the floor for lockdown paint senario."_ FILLS announced.

"Auugh... This sucks. Why did we ever agree to this?" Maine asked as he rubbed his head.

"I have no earthly idea. She only challenged you guys, I just dug my own grave." York replied.

Wyoming let out a grunt of annoyance. "I fucking hate her."

The trio then began loading their paint magnums.

 **[Play: On Your Knees - By: Jeff Williams]**

 _"Round three in five, four, three, two, one, round begin."_

All three of them hid behind the first pillars they got to and York tried to make another plan.

"Maine. Maine! Look I'm gonna move left, you go..."

The teen had been looking back and forth as his friend spoke. Texas was coming their direction fast and he really didn't want to get shot. The paint really frickin' stung. So he ran out, but as soon as he did he got shot anyways.

"Or you just run out, do whatever you want, and then get killed. Ready? Break. Good job everybody."

Texas kicked the nineteen year old past him and out of the arena as he said this. Two shots went off and York turned to his side to see his other teammate's head and arm frozen.

"Oh man, it's gonna be a long day." York said and ran from cover.

ROUND 4

York was the last one remaining but Maine had been coordinating better while Wyoming was just pissed. They were all sick of this crap. Tex ambushed the tan freelancer, collided her knee with his nuts, and blasted his head.

ROUND 5

The three nodded at eachother and ran out at the same time. Maine and Wyoming came around their corners while York jumped and swung himself over his pillar, they were taken out immediately.

ROUND 6

Texas shot Wyoming's knee and he fell. York and Maine tag-teamed the newbie and she kicked away their guns. York dived to the floor to get his back but Maine fought the black armored freelancer in melee after he knocked away her own.

"Your turn." he said as he sidestepped from a kick.

He punched her where she seemed to like to target, kicked her in the same place, and punched her there again.

* * *

Grif jumped to his feet, dropping all of his snacks.

"Yeah! That's how it feels!" he shouted whilst clapping.

He then proceeded to flip off the screen with both hands. The Remnant crew correctly got the impression that he had been on the receiving end of those blows from her... probably more than once.

* * *

The Three Stooges still lost the round however. Wyoming and Maine were suck again after Tex retrieved her weapon and York was hiding behind a pillar on the former's left.

"Psst! Hey Wyoming, hey! Where is she, can you see her?" he whispered.

He then felt a gun make contact with the back of his helmet.

"You know what? Never mind man, I think I figured it out." he continued to whisper before getting nailed.

ROUND 7

Maine and Wyoming charged again but were quickly taken out. York just watched before looking at the ground.

"This sucks."

ROUND 8

They all stuck together **(*evil laugh*)** and checked their corners but couldn't find their opponent anywhere. Tex was standing on top of a pillar and was looking down on them.

* * *

"She's above you!" Ruby screamed.

"Ruby, they can't hear you. It's a memory." Weiss told her leader.

* * *

Texas backflipped off, shot Maine's gun, Wyoming in both knees and his crotch, and almost took out York who rolled out of the way. Maine swung at her with his frozen fist but she rolled underneath it, ran up and jumped off the side of the nearest pillar, shot his shoulder, and kicked him back before firing upon York. Maine once again tried to hit Tex but she dodged, barely scraped his head with paint, threw her gun into the air, dodged York's shots and the brute's attacks, caught her gun, shot Maine in the head, and punched him down.

She dodged three burst shots from York and kicked Maine's frozen body at him. The locksmith jumped over, did a front-roll on the ground, at shot at/melee fought with the newbie. He managed to knock away her gun but she dodged all of his attacks before grabbing his arm and made him shoot himself in the crotch repeatedly before throwing him off to the side.

 **[Music end]**

* * *

"This is just embarrassing." Weiss stated. Everyone else nodded.

"At this point it's just overkill." added Blake.

"Meh, still pretty cool." Grif said.

* * *

Wyoming had left for a second before coming back.

 _"After eight rounds the score is zero:eight advantage Texas."_ the main computer stated.

"Yeah, advantage is the right word FILLS." York said.

He then noticed the mustached man give something to the teen.

"The Director said to use these." Wyoming quietly told Maine.

"Hey, what the hell are you guys doing?" the tan freelancer asked.

 _"Round nine in five, four, three, two, one, round nine begin."_ FILLS said.

Maine and Wyoming cocked their guns and began firing. They were using live rounds.

* * *

"WHAT THE HECK?!" Pyrrha exclaimed. "What are they doing?!"

"Are they trying to kill her?!" Weiss asked in a horrified voice.

"Why would the Director tell them to use live ammunition?!" Ruby questioned.

"He may not have. As far as we are aware the Director isn't even present, Agent Wyoming could be lying. Although I wouldn't be surprised if that really was the case seeing as how... different his methods of doing things are." Ozpin told them.

"Why would Wyoming lie though?" Nora asked.

"As we have seen before, Wyoming seems to be the type of man who values his pride greatly. Getting completely shown up by someone new to the project after he himself has done it for so many years and is on the top leaderboard would pretty much destroy said pride." Ren responded.

"Precisely. When someone like Agent Wyoming is humiliated, they are not likely to ever forgive the offender and depending on the person will sometimes take... drastic measures. We must also consider that the others are also obviously angry but Wyoming probably figured that Agent York would question the situation immediately. Mr. Arc would be more willing to trust that man, seeing as how he acted while he was here." the headmaster said and the teens worriedly watched the screen.

* * *

Texas was using the pillars as cover, but they were quickly being destroyed.

"Back off man." York said as he put his hand on Wyoming's shoulder, he was brushed off.

The two white armored freelancers charged and continued to shoot.

"Aww enough of this!" York said before rushing.

Wyoming jump-shot at Texas but she got out of the way. He continued to spray bullets from his magnum before taking cover to reload, he almost hit York. Maine also kept firing and approached Tex.

"Look out!" York warned as she was almost shot.

She then pointed her weapon at his head.

"Hey, I'm trying to help!" the tan freelancer explained.

"I don't need your help! Never abandon your team!" Tex replied.

Wyoming tossed a grenade to Maine who put it on his belt. The British man then jumped on top of the pillar that the other two were hiding behind and opened fire again. He jumped at Tex but she grabbed him and slammed him into the ground. Maine attempted to punch her but was blocked and kicked in the neck. He stumbled back, threw another punch that Tex ducked under, got punched in the face, and had his hand froze to a pillar.

Wyoming got back up and shot the newbie's hand. She ran at him, clocked his face, blocked his arm, struck his head again, kicked his stomach, and punched his head downwards. She was about to keep beating him senseless until York rested his hand on her shoulder.

"Hey don't..." he started but Tex swatted his hand away and hit him several times before taking his paint gun away and throwing him on the ground.

She proceeded to shoot Wyoming over and over again until only his hand, feet, and head weren't covered. He began to fall over from the weight but Tex rushed him and slammed his head into the pillar behind him, shattering the stone.

She assumed the crisis was over until Maine ripped his hand out of the paint and charged head first at her. He obliterated the column Wyoming was stuck in and the shattered stone was launched at her. She barely managed to roll out of the way and shot the teen over and over before kicking him back. Maine was launched and crashed into a pillar several yards away and fell to his knees... but there was something in his hand. The grenade..

* * *

"Jaune, NO!" Pyrrha screamed.

* * *

The Remnant crew all watched in shock as their friend/student broke the pin with his thumb and threw it at the newbie. She sidestepped out of they way and it landed next to York's head, he had been hit by the rubble and was still down.

"Hey!" Tex yelled as she tried to alert him.

She then proceeded to load him with paint. The explosive went off and York screamed as he was sent flying.

"NO!" Maine yelled, he tried to get up but was still stuck in the paint.

He began to use every swear word in the book.

"York?! York!" Carolina yelled as the other freelancers had run onto the floor.

"Get over here now!" she ordered the medics.

"Everyone stand down now!" the Director barked.

Those able, stood at attention while Maine kept on swearing as he was getting the paint pulled off his body.

"You should be ashamed of yourselves. I expect you to act as a team." their boss continued.

"They used live ammunition on the floor sir. That's against regulations." Washington responded.

The Director got right up in his face. "Do you think our enemies will care about regulations on the battlefield Agent Washington?"

"So you're not punishing them?"

"Ingenuity and adaptability are admirable traits, you should all learn something from this. Dismissed." the Director said before walking away.

Afterwards Washington and North approached Maine.

"What the actual fuck Maine?!" the former asked.

"What were you guys thinking?!" questioned the latter.

"I didn't mean for that to happen!" the teen replied.

"Well what the hell did you mean for it to do?!" Wash asked.

"I didn't know that York was behind her!" Maine explained.

"Why were you trying to kill the rookie?" North asked.

"Wyoming told me that the Director said to use live rounds and gave me the grenade."

The two older freelancers gave eachother looks and North sighed.

"Come on Maine, let's get you to try to explain the situation to Carolina and make sure she doesn't pull your skull out of your head and beat you to death with it." he said.

A rush of fear passed over the teen.

"Oh fuckberries.

* * *

" I can't believe their boss." Nora said.

"Yeah, why the heck is he not doing anything? He's like, the worst leader ever." Yang agreed.

"Of all time." Ruby chimed in, making O'Mally cringe.

 **'Oh dear God.'**

* * *

The next memory day, all the main agents minus York were in the mission room. Carolina had beaten the crap out of both of the two white armored freelancers less than half an hour after the incident, and they were getting the cold shoulder from a few others... especially Wyoming. Wash had explained that he had tricked the teen into it.

"The team is ready sir." Carolina reported.

"Excellent. Let us begin." the Director replied.

He approached the others and began to speak.

"Agents, your mission today is by far the most important you've undertaken to date. As our number one, Carolina will be leading from the field."

The aqua freelancer stepped forward.

"Okay, here's what we have." she started while she opened up a hologram. "As you may have heard, there is suspected Insurrection activity in this area. Our intel says that members of the UNSC loyal to the Insurrection have acquired a high level asset and are holding it in this secure location."

The Pyrrha look-alike clicked a few panels and a replica of the compound emerged.

"It's a hundred and ten story building in the middle of an urban environment."

"What does security look like?" Wyoming asked.

"They have enough troops to fill a hundred and ten story building." Carolina replied, obviously still mad at him.

"So, that's a lot of security."

"We're up to it. Our job is to infiltrate the building, work our way up to the floor where the Sarcophagus is being held, and secure it."

"The Sarcophagus?" North asked.

"That is what we are calling the primary objective." the Director informed them.

Carolina continued.

"But since this is a high level asset, we need a key code to access the Sarcophagus."

"I'm guessing they don't keep that taped to the side." Washington joked.

"It's held by an official of the program and will be moving in a vehicle along the freeway between inspection, that's when we'll hit the facility. We need to acquire both targets within minutes of eachother. We fail that, the remaining target will enter lockdown and we miss our window."

"We will not have another chance at this." added the Director.

"So that means two teams." Wash said.

Carolina nodded.

"Two teams. Team A will consist of me, Wash, and Maine. We will work infiltration on the package's storage facility. York is still in the infirmary so Wash, you will haft to pull lock-picking duty."

"Um, okay... Guess I'll reread my field manual in the transport."

"Hey, don't be so quick to give away my job." a voice said behind them.

"York?" North asked.

"I thought you were in the hospital?" Carolina said as she approached the tan freelancer.

"According to their records, I am."

"How's your eye?"

"It's okay, docs will let me out tomorrow."

"Tomorrow huh?" Wash asked.

"Look I couldn't let you guys have all the fun without me. Besides, you need someone to get ya in." York said.

"Look I'm happy to see him too but this mission, I don't know..." Wash said to Carolina off to the side.

"Hey, if York says he's good then he's good." she responded.

"It's your call boss."

The aqua freelancer walked over to her boyfriend.

"You're good right?" she quietly asked him.

"Okay look I said I was OK, good might be over-selling it a little."

"It's settled then. York will join Team A and get them in the facility." the Director announced.

"Thank your sir." the now one-eyed locksmith replied.

Carolina then continued with the briefing.

"Transport will be two lightly equipped Pelican dropships."

"We're rigged for fast running only people, no heavy armaments." Four Seven Niner told them.

"Team B will be North, Wyoming, and CT. You will act as recon for Team A and once we enter the building, you will disengage to attack the target on the freeway. North will lead Team B."

"Got it." the purple sniper replied.

They continued on until they were dismissed and made their way down to the hangers.

The memory paused.

* * *

"Aww, what? It was getting exciting again." Ruby complained.

"Yeah, why did you stop?" Nora asked.

 _"BECAUSE AFTER WHAT HAPPENED PREVIOUSLY, THINGS ARE ABOUT TO GET A LITTLE MORE... GRAPHIC SEEING AS HOW WE DIDN'T GO OVER MORE THAN ONE MEMORY BEFORE THIS POINT. I SHOULD ALSO WARN YOU THAT SOMETHING VERY UNSETTLING IS ABOUT TO OCCUR."_ Gary told them.

A heads up may have just earned him extra trust points from the headmaster.

He then resumed the memory.

* * *

Team A was inside their Pelican and Maine was apologizing to York for the previous day.

"Listen kid, I've already told you it was fine. Just do us a favour and don't listen to everything Wyoming says, especially when he's pissed. Okay?" he told the teen and smirked.

A little over twelve minutes later they entered the planet's surface and approached the drop-point. Maine started to take pills on the flights so he wouldn't get sick. The four prepared to jump out of the Pelican when the hatch opened, they looked down from a height of seventeen thousand feet... none of them had parachutes.

"You know, sometimes I hate this job." Wash stated.

"Yep." Maine agreed.

They then jumped off and made their way towards the tower after they executed their own landing strategies. They managed to get inside with no-one seeing them and only had to take out a few guards, one of which Maine slammed their head into the ground and crushed it open with his boot. They eventually reached a door with a blue holographic lock, that's were they needed to enter.

"York, get up here." Carolina ordered. "How long to crack that lock?"

"Should take about sixty seconds, you can give me fifteen." York answered as he approached. "Wow, is that holographic? That's high end."

"Can you get through it?"

"Of course I can. You didn't bring me along for my good looks did ya? Whoever designed this is a genius." York said before tripping the alarm off.

"You were saying?" Carolina taunted.

"Okay, I take it back; whoever designed this is an asshole." the tan locksmith said before cracking the code, allowing the door to open. "There! Everybody in!"

"Thanks York, but do something about that alarm system. We don't need anymore surprises." Carolina told him.

"Does saying sorry count as something?" he asked and the aqua freelancer shot him a look. "Guess not." he remarked before heading off.

The remaining three entered the what seemed to be a trophy room.

"Alright everyone spread out. What we need is here somewhere. It's probably small, easy to miss. Take as many scans as possible, there may be other things we can use." Carolina said.

While they were searching, Maine found a... recognizable item. His signature weapon. He picked it up and posed in front of Washington.

"That's a good look." the grey freelancer commented.

* * *

"Just wait a few years, you're going to get real sick of it." Church thought aloud.

The Remnant crew looked at him and Grif, they couldn't see the soldier's faces but they understood from the way they talked about him that he put them through some very unpleasant situations.

'Was Jaune actually that bad?' Pyrrha thought.

She then recalled the scene from a few moments earlier where her leader cracked a man's head open with boot and blood stained the bottom. He showed no remorse for it when in the past just the thought of killing someone shook him to the core. She shook her head and the removed the thought from her mind.

* * *

"Well let's hope they're not as good as picking locks as you are York." Carolina said with two fingers on the side of her helmet. "Alright team, we're about to have company."

Wash then ran up to her. "Boss, I have good news and bad news."

"Hit me."

"We found the markings we're looking for. The bad news is... they're on that." He turned his head to point at a giant metallic box.

"That?" Carolina asked.

York then spoke on the radio.

 _"Team A, I've got us an exit up here. Straight up the stairwell, door to the roof, helipad."_

"Copy. I'll radio air support. Now, how are we going to get that thing up to the roof?" Carolina asked.

Maine shrugged as he stood next to the object and Carolina got an idea.

"York, I saw a window washing unit when we came into the facility; can you find where it attached to the building?"

 _"I dunno, that's a tough one. Let me see what I can do."_ he responded.

"What are you up to?" Wash asked.

"Improvising. Come here Maine."

Carolina responded. "Improvising? I hate it when we do that."

"You're telling me, at least you're not part of it." the teen told him.

"Fair point."

Carolina had Maine hold onto a chain while she pushed the box onto the window washing platform, Maine was standing on the windowsill.

"Better hurry!" Wash yelled over his shoulder as he watched the door, the Insurrectionists were almost inside.

The teen was looking down below, they were at least seventy stories high and his heart was beating so fast that he thought it was going to explode.

"Maine, this should work fine. You're the only one heavy enough to counter-balance." Carolina told him and the teen swallowed hard.

"Too high."

"Oh don't be a baby." she told him before kicking him out the window.

"Shit!" he yelled.

Eventually he ran out of chain and barely managed to land on a lower floor. He groaned and looked back outside to see the Sarcophagus fly a little bit over the building before landing on the roof. He then heard a voice and turned to see four guards looking at him.

"Stop right there or we'll... shoot? W-we're gonna need bigger handcuffs."

Maine walked towards the Resistance fighters and pulled his newly acquired weapon off his back.

"Is that a knife? Rifle? Kn-knifle?" the same one asked in a scarred tone as they all slowly backed away from him.

'Let's see what this thing can do shall we?' Maine thought before pulling the trigger.

 **[Play: Sharkface/Rooftop - By: Jeff Williams]**

The weapon released a grenade and blew two of his opponents off their feet. He then turned around and blew a hole in another's chest before blowing the head off the last.

"I like this thing." the freelancer said with a bloodthirsty smirk underneath his helmet.

One of the first two that he attacked was still alive.

"Y-you brute!" he screamed and picked his battle rifle off the ground.

Before he could do anything however, Maine shot his back.

"Brute huh?" the future murderer said before looking at his weapon. "It's got a ring to it."

Two more squads then arrived but he disposed of them easily. One of the guys ran at him but Maine stabbed the blade of his weapon into the attacker's skull, he then ripped out the weapon and opened fire; killing five more. One threw a grenade but the teen rolled out of the way and threw Brute Shot into the guy's chest. He pulled out his magnum after running to cover and fired until he ran out of ammo.

"Crap."

The teen put the gun away and jumped out from his hiding spot. He ran towards the remaining Insurrectionists and took each shot they gave him.

"What the hell?!" one asked.

Maine then delivered a left hook to his face, breaking his jaw.

"Oh son of a...!" another started but the freelancer kicked him into an explosive barrel before he could finish.

Maine ducked, making two more shoot eachother's heads, grabbed one survivor by the throat and threw her into another, reclaimed his weapon, and blew the rest off the face of the earth. As soon as he finished, the entire building shook and all the glass shattered as a giant laser tore straight threw the center.

"The heck are they doing up there?!" he asked himself.

 **[Music end] [Play: Falling Towards the Sky - By: Jeff Williams]**

The building started to cave in and Maine screamed as he ran for his life.

"SERIOUSLY, WHAT THE FUCK?!"

He then jumped out the window that he entered from. He landed inside an open roofed car garage and looked up to see Washington and Texas land in Four Seven Niner's Pelican but Carolina and York were still falling.

"Shit!" he yelled.

Maine didn't even pay attention to the soldiers who were shooting at him as he stole a Warthog and drove off.

The teen caught his friends right on time after using Brute Shot to shoot the back of a transportation truck and used the destroyed back as a ramp to launch himself in the air.

"Are we in a car?!" York screamed as the fell back to the ground in the vehicle.

They missed the highway and fell off the side but thankfully landed on the road below and came back up through a tunnel.

 **[Music stop] Play: Hell's Angel - By: Jeff Williams]**

Maine managed to dodge all traffic as he struggled to keep control of the wheel.

"Nice catch Maine!" Carolina told him.

"I think we don't get paid enough for this crap!" he responded.

Carolina laughed while the teen and York switched places seeing as how he was a better driver.

"Team B, report!" the leader yelled.

North spoke on the radio.

 _"Team B is down! We have wounded and are taking fire!"_

"We'll be right there." Carolina responded.

 _"Negative. Get the package, get it out of the city!"_ the male twin told her.

"Rodger that."

* * *

Everyone but Ozpin were getting goosebumps, this was intense.

* * *

"Reading Team B's tracker... okay there he is. I got him." York said.

"We'll cut him off at the overpass! Go! Go!" Carolina ordered and York punched it... once again Maine was trying not to get sick.

The three stopped on a higher up highway and got out of the Warthog, waiting for the target to arrive. Once he did so, Carolina gave Maine a nod and the teen jumped off the overpass and landed on the hood of the man's car. He tried to knock the freelancer off but the brute kept his balance, pulled his weapon off of his back, and cut the man's head clean off from the top half of his mouth.

 **[Music end]**

* * *

Everyone either winced or looked away in disgust and horror, with Weiss almost hurling, as the insides of the Insurrectionist agent's head became visible and blood splattered everywhere.

* * *

"Nice work Maine." Carolina told him as he returned with the case.

"Thanks." he replied.

"Yep, subtle as always. Response team is probably on the way." York said.

"Let's get the hell out of here." the number one said.

"Hold on!" York told them before they drove off. "Coming through!" the tan freelancer yelled as they zoomed past traffic. "Excuse me! Look out!" he continued until Carolina looked behind her and yelled:

"Here they come!"

 **[Play: Spiral - By: Jeff Williams]**

Two Falcon's were flying overhead and a muscular man and a girl jumped off with jetpacks.

"They're behind us!" York warned and Carolina spun the Warthog's gun around and opened fire.

The Insurrectionists took cover behind car to car as they advanced. Unknown to the freelancers, a third unit landed on a trailer in front of them.

"Maine, protect the briefcase!" Carolina yelled.

The teen had a bad feeling and turned around to see the sniper a few vehicles in front of them. He managed to quickly move his body in front of Carolina's back and saved her from a shot that would have killed her by taking the bullet into his ribcage, he collapsed from the pain. The aqua freelancer heard him grunt and turned around.

"Maine? Sniper!" she yelled as she ducked.

Behind the group, Texas drove up on a Mongoose and blew up one of the enemy ships with a rocket launcher. She then pulled out an SMG and killed several motorcycle units that were chasing the main group.

"Punch it York!" Carolina ordered.

"It's punched!" he replied.

The aqua freelancer then looked up to see the muscle man land on the front of the Warthog but the number one kicked his gun away and knocked him off. He came back via jetpack and tried to stab her with his knife but she ducked and failed to kick him. They blocked several of eachother's strikes until he used his pack again and almost knocked Carolina off. Maine was slowly getting up when they guy stepped on his back, forcing him down again. The enemy then grabbed the case but Carolina kneed him and took it back before getting kicked and loosing it herself. York quickly hit the break to keep the sleeveless soldier from getting it and the man and Carolina flew off and landed on the trailer in front of them.

The girl then caught up and shot at the aqua freelancer with two SMG's and barrels were flying off the vehicle as Carolina fought two on one and almost hit York and Maine.

"Would you quit throwing shit?!" the former asked. "On your left! On your left!" he yelled to the nineteen year old freelancer as the sniper landed on the truck next to them.

They ducked as he shot and York rammed the Warthog into their enemy's grounding and the sniper was flung off. He tried to fly onto the freelancer's transportation but Maine clobbered him away and he was crushed by a falling barrel.

"Watch it! Watch it!" York warned as the two pulled up to the transport their leader was on.

Maine jumped over and tried to tackle the female Resistance fighter but she used her jetpack to get out of the way. The teen ran back at her but she punched his chest and kicked his head, knocking him into Carolina. The two quickly changed opponents and these seemed like better matchups.

* * *

"This is awesome!" Ruby squealed.

"I can't believe vomit boy could actually do all of this!" Yang commented.

Pyrrha smiled, but immediately gained a bad feeling inside her gut.

* * *

Maine and the muscular man delivered blow after blow to one another until the girl tossed her teammate a magnum. He punched Maine twice and grabbed the teen's next swing. This is what Gamma had warned them all about.

Not the bodies getting blown in half.

Not the gruesome decapitation.

This.

The man put the gun next to Maine's helmet and shot. He then flipped the teen over his shoulder while there was ringing in the latter's ears, stepped on his chest, and delivered nine shots point-blank to his throat.

 **[Music end]**

* * *

Everyone from Remnant face's turned whiter than snow. Grif and Church were take aback a bit, but didn't really care all that much as to what they went through because of the guy. Glynda and Ozpin turned to look at Jaune's wounds. The students took it much worse.

Yang had one hand on her mouth and kept staring at the screen. Blake had a look of utter horror. Weiss looked away with both hands over her mouth and had closed her eyes. Ruby was huddled into a ball and rocked back and forth as tears fell from her eyes. Nora let out a cry and fell to the floor. Ren kept standing but looked away from the screen and downwards, his hands in fists.

And the there was Pyrrha. At first she had a look that seemed like she wasn't able to process what happened. Once she did, tears rapidly fell from her face and she let out an ear-piercing and heart-wrenching scream before falling on top of her crush. She wrapped her arms around him and cried into his chest.

Eventually Gamma spoke up.

 _"I WARNED YOU."_

"That you did." Ozpin replied, looking at the damage done. "... That you did."

* * *

None of the students slept that night, the scene and the sounds of gunshots played on repeat in their heads. They couldn't even close their eyes, and most of them didn't go down to breakfast the next morning. Eventually they all agreed to finish the memory from the day before, albeit very reluctantly.

"Are you sure?" Ozpin asked as they stood in his office, Grif and Church were speaking with the headmaster when the teens came in.

"Yeah no offense, but you guys look like complete shit. And not just any kind of shit, but shit that had been sitting out for days before getting fucked by an old homeless dude that smelled like a skunk kind of shit." the orange soldier remarked and everyone gave him a death glare.

"We're sure." Pyrrha told Ozpin.

"Very well, I shall go fetch Gary." he said as he stood up.

* * *

 **[Play: Spiral - By: Jeff Williams]**

The memory resumed from the previous day.

"NO!" Carolina screamed and tackled the man who brutally shot the youngest member of Project Freelancer.

She then grabbed Brute Shot and tried to stab it into the man's skull but he rolled out of the way and kicked her back. They fought for a little while and Carolina was completely owning him by beating him senseless. The memory viewers breathed a sigh of relief and Nora let out a cheer as Maine stood back up. He ripped his weapon that was impaled into the vehicle where his teammate missed her attack and he loaded it.

'Fuck it.' the teen thought.

He grunted and shot the back wheels, making the car go out of control. Everyone struggled to stay on until the truck crashed and they all were flung off. Carolina and Maine launched in the same direction but the former landed in the stolen Warthog that York was still driving while the latter hit the back of it. He bounced off the road and got hit by a truck, sending him flying off the bridge and muscles got the case. Fortunately Wash, Team B, and Four Seven Niner got there just in time. The Pelican turned and caught him, but he passed out from blood loss and pain.

 **[Music end]**

Some time later...

Maine woke up and everything hurt, especially his throat. He slowly sat up and realized that he was on a medical bed.

"Woah! Hey, take it easy champ." York told him.

Maine tried to ask what happened but ended up growling, the pain hurt so bad that he wanted to die.

"Be careful, don't try to talk for a while. Nine shots point blank? It's a miracle that you're still alive." Wash said.

"I'm sorry Maine." Carolina told him.

'Huh?' he thought.

York, Wash, North, Carolina, Florida, and Wyoming were in the infirmary with him... the latter had on bandages around his torso.

"The mission was a success, but it seems that karma has caught up to us from the stunt a little while back. I had to get a lung replaced and you... well..." the British man said.

Maine looked around at all of them.

"It's my fault. I couldn't stop him, I'm sorry." Carolina apologized again.

Maine noticed a piece of paper and a pen next to him and wrote:

"Would someone please just tell me what the heck happened?!"

The others read it and looked at eachother. Florida spoke up.

"There's no easy way to say this so I'm just going to say it as is. When you were shot, the bullets tore right through your vocal cords... you're now a mute."

Maine's eyes grew and looked at everyone for conformation. Their faces said it all. The teen laid back down in defeat.

'Well... shit.'

* * *

"Wait, so Jaune... can never speak again." Pyrrha asked with a trembling voice.

Ozpin nodded. "I'm afraid not."

Everyone than sat in silence for a bit with the two Blood Gulch members feeling uncomfortable with all the sympathy for the Meta.

* * *

A few memory days later...

The freelancers were in the meeting room and and awaiting the Director's "special" announcment. This was the first time Maine had seen the scoreboard since his injury and his jaw basically dropped to the floor when he saw it.

 _"Texas #1, Carolina #2"_

'Holy. Shit... I never thought I'd see the day.'

"What do you think it is?" Wash asked Maine who pulled his head away from the screen and replied by shrugging.

While he was happy that he increased to number four, he was even more shocked by Carolina's place falling.

"Whatever it is better be worth the wait." South commented.

"South, do we need to go through relaxation exercises again?" Florida asked.

"I swear to God if you even think about it..." the light-purple freelancer was then interrupted by the Director and Councilman walking inside.

"Agents, today is a special day. Agent York, please step forward." their boss said after he made it to the front of the room.

Everyone looked at the tan freelancer as he stood up and made his way to where the Director was standing.

"Sir?" he asked.

"I have someone I want you all to meet." the leader of Project Freelancer announced.

He then inserted something into the computer and a small green ghost-like figure appeared.

 _"Greetings, my name is Delta. It is a pleasure to make all of your acquaintance."_ the figure said.

"Sir, is that...?" North began.

"Yes, Delta here is Project Freelancer's first artificial intelligence program." the Director said. "However, this is not a full AI; so we will need to run tests in the training arena with our new friends."

"There are more?" Carolina asked.

"Not at the moment, but in time each of you will be getting your own. As for now, Agent York."

"Yes sir."

"The reason I called you up here is because I am entrusting Delta to you. He will be your partner in and out of the battlefield and it will be your responsibility to look after him."

"Yes sir!"

"Good, move down to the surgery room for implantation."

"Can't they just go into our armor?" CT asked.

"They could, but we want to make sure that in case of an unforeseen accident that they will not be damaged or taken by an enemy. By implanting them into your mind we can keep that from happening." said the Counselor.

"Have you tested it?"

"It is safe. Now, you are all dismissed." the Director said.

Maine noticed Connie lean back in her chair and cross her arms, she didn't seem convinced.

'What's her problem?'

* * *

Some time later it was announced that Carolina was set up for the next AI however Maine was surprised and couldn't thank her enough for giving Sigma to him to compensate for the loss of his voice. She still blamed herself for what happened.

After surgery...

Maine was listening in on his team's radios as he sat on the medical bed. His head was killing him and Sigma's appearance had startled him at first. He was different from Delta. He was orange and had on no battle armor, but what had shocked him was the fact that the AI was on fire. Sigma seemed to be curious so Maine let him run through his brain while he was recovering. Who knows? Sigma may find his forgotten memories while he was at it.

 _"Use your packs sparingly, course correction only! You don't wanna end up like Georgia_!" he heard Carolina yell.

 _"Wait what happened to Georgia?!"_ Wash asked.

 _"Nobody knows, they never found him!"_ South replied.

* * *

"Well that's reassuring." Ren depanned.

* * *

Maine continued to listen and from the sounds of screams and Washington's comment about things being "floaty", he figured that they turned off the gravity on the enemy ship. He then heard Wash speak again.

 _"Okay, okay. I got it!" Oh, man!"_

The bedridden freelancer then heard a loud thunk/crash and Washington spoke again.

 _"Why do cars hate me?"_

Maine couldn't help but laugh, although his laughter was made up of a series of hisses. He quickly stopped however because his throat still hurt. He put his fingers to his wound and winced at the pain it caused. It really sucked.

A little while later he heard what sounded like York screaming and crash.

 _"You would not believe the time I had getting back, it's nuts out there!"_ the tan freelancer stated.

Then Maine heard Carolina.

 _"Let's go people!"_ she said before he heard the sound of a jetpack igniting.

 _"What, no welcome back?"_ York asked.

 _"Alright, welcome back!"_ North said in a friendly tone before igniting his own.

 _"Where are they off to in such a hurry?"_

 _"Found the leader, he's hiding out in Bone Vally."_ Wash told him.

 _"We're going all the way over there, after what happened to Georgia?"_

 _"Would someone please tell me what happened to Georgia?!"_

 _"Dude, you do not want to know."_ York then flew off, leaving Washington alone.

 _"I really do though!"_ the grey freelancer shouted.

* * *

"I'm actually starting to wonder that myself." Yang commented and several of the others nodded.

* * *

After yet another small amount of time, alarms started going off inside the Mother of Invention and Maine stood up but had a hard time keeping his balance as the ship shook and equipment fell over. Eventually the shaking stopped and one of the doctors got a report from the Councilman explaining the events that took place. It appears that they wandered into a trap and were almost killed by a nuke and that CT was MIA.

* * *

"What's a nuke?" Weiss asked.

"In short it's a radioactive bomb capable of destroying a city." Church explained.

"And just one of them has that much power?" Ozpin asked with a brow raised.

 _"CORRECT. THE BOMB HAS THAT POWER PLUS THE FACT THAT IT'S RADIOACTIVITY IS LEFT BEHIND AFTER DETONATION, WITH THE POSSIBILITY TO LINGER FOR MANY YEARS; VERY FEW SURVIVE FROM SAID RADIATION AND THOSE WHO DO ARE EITHER VERY LUCKY OR GO THROUGH SOME KIND OF TRANSMUTATION. YOU CAN STILL BE AFFECTED BY THE TOXINS BEFORE THE EXPLOSIVE EVEN GOES OFF, IT COULD JUST BE SITTING IN A SHELTER AND YOU WOULD STILL GET THE SAME RESULTS."_ Gary explained much to the shock of those from Remnant.

"Why would anyone make something like that?" Blake asked, horrified of what the answer might be.

"It was made to stop a war, more specifically a war on our home planet that we call World War Two." Church said.

He then had to give a brief summery of said war to get them to understand what he meant.

* * *

Several memory days later the freelancers were in their meeting room and the councilman was speaking.

"And as the Director accurately predicted in this theses on the subject, we see that cognitive impreshive modeling can be segrated from the host. Naturally, this remains an inherently... deconstructive process. But most of all the biggest concern in any full AI entity, is the prospect of rampancy; which we covered last week."

"Of course our AI units are what we call 'fragments', so there's very little chance that a personality sub routine can run off unchecked." added the Director.

"Are there any questions?"

South spoke up.

"Yeah, I got a question! Why do we need to learn all this stuff?"

"AI theory is like vehicle maintenance South. If we're going to use this equipment, we need to know how to care for it." Carolina informed her.

"Oh yeah, like a coffee maker or a vacuum cleaner."

 _"That was rather rude."_ Delta stated.

"Oh cry me a river lightbulb."

"No, not the same as that." Carolina said.

"Well I don't even have one 'cause someone didn't bring enough to share, so why am I sitting through this elementary classroom bullshit?!"

"I don't have one iether South."

"That's because you gave yours to Maine." York pointed out... he wasn't helping in this situation.

"He needed to be able to communicate after his injury."

"Oh yeah, that's the only reason you did it. You're a real hero Carolina. It's not like Maine has much to say anyways." South mocked and the subject of the conversation growled at her.

'Fucking bitch. This is why I don't talk to you, I hate your guts. I like everyone else just fine.'

Then Sigma began to speak.

 _"I would just like to say how appreciative the two of us are for Carolina's sacrifice. Agent Carolina, if anyone can exel without an AI unit it is you."_

"Thank you Sigma." she replied.

 _"And Agent Texas of course, that goes without saying."_ he continued, much to the aqua freelancer's annoyance.

"Right."

"I noticed she doesn't haft to attend class." South was still complaining.

"Agent Texas doesn't need this training." their boss said.

"What the Director is trying to say is that Agent Texas has already completed her AI theory course-work. I think that is enough for today." said the Councilman.

 _"If I may Councilor, I have just one last question."_ Sigma said.

"Oh, come on." York said to himself as he sat back down.

 _"On the different levels of AI awareness and Rampancy."_

"Melancholia, Anger,..." the Councilor started.

 _"Specifically the fourth stage of AI rampancy."_ the flaming AI interrupted.

"Metastability?"

 _"Yes. The Meta stage, in which an AI can be considered fully human."_

"That is only theoretical Sigma, no AI has ever achieved such a state."

 _"But, it is possible?"_

"In theory, but..."

 _"But possible. I find that very interesting._

"Remember Sigma you are not even a full AI, you are what we call a fragment. So something of that magnitude would be even more difficult for... an entity such as yourself."

 _"Well as the Director always says, it is important to have ambition."_

"Why yes it is." the boss agreed. "Class is dismissed." he said and everyone got up.

The freelancers and their AI made their way past Maine and Sigma, Delta being the last to go.

 _"Sigma, are you coming?"_

 _ "Yes, yes. I will be joining you shortly."_ the AI of ambition and creativity was staring at the AI board.

'Come on.' Maine thought and the flaming character turned to follow Maine. 'What was that about?'

 _"Just curious."_

The memory ended.

* * *

"I don't know about you guys, but I have a bad feeling about him." Nora stated and everyone agreed.

This guy seemed like trouble.

'Oh, you have no idea.' Church thought.

The next day...

* * *

 **[Play: Mental Meta Mental - By: Jeff Williams]**

Maine was falling in a drop-pod and crashed into the ground. He punched the hatch clean off, stepped out, and let out a low hiss. Sigma appeared by his head.

 _"Agent Maine, isn't that the soldier from the freeway? The one that shot you in the throat?"_

The freelancer looked at the man that filled his neck with lead, he was standing next to the chick that was also there that day. Maine let out a growl.

'Yeah, that's the guy.'

 _"I thought so, sic 'em."_

* * *

"Ooh! Things are about to go down!" Nora yelled excitedly.

"Kick his butt Jaune!" Ruby exclaimed while eating a tub of ice-cream that she talked Grif into giving her when she saw that he had one.

"Show 'em who's boss!" added Yang.

"Once again this is a memory, he can't hear us." Weiss stated, although she herself wanted the teen who used to try to woo her show the guy his place.

* * *

Maine ran at the two and a Warthog zipped around them and tried to flatten the brute... it didn't work. The mute stuck his hands out and grabbed the trail hooks and was pushed back until he found his footing and stopped the car in it's tracks. He lifted it up by the front end, ripped the "tusks" off it, and kicked it back; sending it flying and nearly hitting the soldiers. Maine walked towards the sleeveless guy who was still on the ground after getting his leg hit while the girl and a guy with a robotic arm fought Carolina.

The soldier got to his knee and looked up, the future AI hunter was standing above him and cracking his neck and knuckles. The Resistance fighter got up and tried to punch him but Maine grabbed his hand mid swing and overpowered him, forcing him back down on his knee. With a blood-thirsty smirk underneath his helmet Maine reared his fist back and with a growl, hit the guy's head with so much power that his helmet flung off and his neck snapped as he fell to the ground. The freelancer then turned his attention to Carolina, who was now fighting her opponents on top of a large crate.

She threw metal arm over her shoulder and dodged two swings from the chick's blades before backflipping over her. She blocked the next few attacks, karate chopped the Insurrectionist's neck, and delivered several blows before punching her away.

"Come here!" the metallic armed man yelled and proceeded to attack the freelancer.

She dodged his attacks and kicked him away with both legs. Carolina stood back up, pulled out her stun baton, and fought them both at once. She kicked metal arm away and he stumbled right into Maine who picked up the soldier and German suplexed him with one arm.

"I'm through with you!" the Insurrectionist declared angrily as Maine ran back at him.

He threw a punch and when the freelancer ducked, pulled a quick motion made the mute go flying over him and into Carolina. The teen got back up, jumped to Brute Shot and launched a grenade at metal arm, who grabbed it and threw it back. In the smoke from the explosion, Maine threw his weapon and cut off his opponents metallic limb.

"Augh my robot arm!" he yelled."Ahh you bitch!"

The freelancer then headbutted him and front-rolled on the ground, retrieved Brute Shot, and blasted his opponent off the dock and into the water below.

Carolina was still fighting the girl until she pulled a quick spinning kick that knocked off her helmet and sent her over the edge. The Insurrectionist was hanging off the side when her allies' robotic attachment reached out to her. She grabbed the open hand and was lifted up, only to see that Maine was holding it.

"What?" she asked in an "oh come on" sort of way. "Fuck."

The freelancer then let go of the arm and she fell, broke her back on the platform several feet below, and dropped into the ocean.

"Maine, you and the Dakota's gaurd the platform! I'm going after Connie!" Carolina yelled before running off.

Some time later...

Maine and the twins were sitting on boxes when everyone else came out of the building, with Florida having a hatchet wound in his shoulder.

"Where's CT?" South asked and Carolina looked at the ground.

 _"With the infornation I recieved, there is a ninety-one point four five percent chance that Agent Connecticut is no long alive."_ Delta appeared and replied.

"So she's dead?"

 _"Most likely."_

"What happened?" asked North.

"I'll tell you what happened. CT wasn't MIA, she was a traitor. That's how the Resistance has been getting info on us. And Carolina here stopped me from finishing the job, so now they have the bitch's armor which means we will all be getting heat from the Director." Tex told them before walking off. The trip back home was mostly silent. Maine remembered when HT first introduced the two, her getting slightly annoyed while the old man laughed.

'... What the fuck Connie?'

* * *

The next memory day...

It was mid afternoon and Maine and Wyoming were in the loker rooms when Carolina stomped in.

"Damnit!" she yelled as she threw her helmet at the wall past them.

Wyoming got up from the bench he was sitting on and walked away, slowly. Maine thought about doing that as well but he was honestly scared that if he moved he would feel Carolina's wrath for whatever reason. So he continued to sit and was mostly still, like what it's rumored you should do if you somehow manage to come face to face with a T-Rex. He only moved his arms as he was cleaning his weapon. The former number one sat down on the same bench as Maine, thankfully for him on the other end, and Sigma decided to talk to her.

 _"Did the training session go poorly Agent Carolina?"_ he asked after appearing next to her head.

"N-no it went fine, just not good enough." the Pyrrha look alike replied.

 _"That is most unusual for you."_

'Do you have a death wish?' Maine asked the AI who ignored him.

"Why does she even have a locker in here if she doesn't use our locker room? I mean what is so special about her?!" Carolina continued.

 _"She does seem to get special treatment doesn't she? Strange, considering she's not the best freelancer."_

Gamma then appeared on Carolina's other side.

 _"IT'S PROBABLY BECAUSE OF OMEGA."_

* * *

Ruby's eyes widened, the AI looked just like it did in her dream. There was also the voice that she could hear sometimes of the other guy from the same dream. Just what was going on?

* * *

 _"Now Gamma, we are not meant to speak about Omega. You know the rules."_

"Oh hello Gamma, does Wyoming know that you're talking to another AI?" Carolina asked.

 _"I AM NOT TALKING TO ANOTHER AI, WE ARE BOTH TALKING TO YOU."_

"Who is Omega?"

 _"He is one of our brothers."_

 _"HE IS THE STRONGEST OF US."  
_

"And Agent Texas has him? She uses an AI?" asked the freelancer as she stood up and walked to the lockers across from her.

 _"Hmm... I don't think it's our place to say."_

 _"ALL THE TOP AGENTS HAVE AN AI."  
_

 _"Well, except you Carolina; you chose not too."_

Carolina spun around in anger and the AI disappeared from the bench and reappeared back on the sides of her head.

"That lying...! This all makes sense now. I have been an idiot! She's not better than me, it's all been Omega."

 _"OMEGA'S STRENGTH IS UNMATCHED, I DON'T KNOW IF ANYONE COULD BEAT HIM; AT LEAST, NOT ALONE."_

 _"No, not alone. We are just fragments after all. Pieces. Omega and Texas are something else."_

 _"BUT IF WE WORK TOGETHER..."_

 _"Together, what an interesting concept Gamma."_ the AI of ambition and creativity smiled.

For whatever reason Maine got a sharp pain in his head, this is the fourth time since implantation.

'Gahh, again? What the hell?'

Carolina didn't notice Maine and smiled at the two AI.

"You've just given me an idea." she told them before walking away. Texas was using an AI, well two can play at that game.

 _"I do hope you'll use it well Agent Carolina."_

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

 _"Yes, I'm sure you will be."_

Things seemed to have calmed down on the other side of the lockers so Wyoming headed back over. He had taken off his helmet and passed by the freelancer as she was leaving and noticed that she had her determined face on.

"What was that about?" he asked.

Maine's headache subsided and he shrugged.

 _"Agent Carolina said that she has gained an idea from our conversation and left immediately afterwards."_

"Let's see what it is then shall we?"

Maine put Brute Shot off to the side and followed Wyoming out the door. The two freelancers and their AI then watched as Carolina challenged the Director on the training room floor. She requested to get both Washington and South's scheduled implants and it had appeared that they would be her's.

"Well, this should be good." Wyoming said with a grin and Maine growled in agreement.

* * *

"That's not okay. This leaderboard stuff is just bad all the way around." Nora said.

"Yeah, now she's forcing her friends back just so she can be the best." Ruby agreed.

"Huh, guess she's not Pyrrha after all." joked Yang.

* * *

Later that day...

After Carolina's surgery the entire team was in the infirmary checking up on her... except for Maine. He was in there on his own because he had been getting loads of headaches ever since implantation, it was long after they should have ended. Sigma had said that it was most likely due to the fact that he was trying to force the teen's memories to light, so far it wasn't working _._ Apparently his memories were both suppressed from some sort of trauma... and something else, something was helping to block them. Maine questioned what it was but the flaming AI said it was probably from implantation and that he would try to get rid of it.

A few minutes after Carolina woke up everyone including Maine were down at the window overlooking the training floor waiting for the top two agents to go at it.

"This is a terrible idea." Wash commented and Maine growled.

 _"He says that he is in agreement."_ Sigma translated.

No-one, including the memory viewers, noticed Omega appear next to Texas for a short while.

 _"Agent York, please clear the floor."_ FILLS said.

"In a second FILLS." the tan freelancer responded before continuing to talk to his girlfriend on the floor.

 _"Agent York, clear the floor please."_

"In a second FILLS!"

 _"Clear the floor or enter the match York, your choice."_

The freelancer said a few more things to Carolina before he left.

"Anyone wanna bet that on of them gets killed?" North asked when York came into the room.

"Are you kidding? I just hope one of us don't get killed by just watching!" exclaimed Wash and Maine hissed.

 _"Agent Maine says 'I'll take you up on that North'."_ his AI translated.

"Twenty bucks?" the purple freelancer asked.

Maine nodded and the two shook hands.

"My money's on Texas kicking our dear Carolina's ass again." Wyoming joined in.

"You guys are unbelievable." Washington told them.

 _"Round three begins in three, two, one, begin."_

The two females ran at eachother as soon as the Director walked in.

"What the hell is going on here?!" he asked angrily and everyone stepped aside so he could see. "No matches have been authorized for... NO ALLISON!" the Director screamed before running up to the window.

York, North, Wyoming, and Carolina dropped to the ground, their heads in massive amounts of pain. Maine was the only one who managed to keep standing, but holy crap did his head hurt. At this time the memory started to glitch and bug out with flashes of a girl with blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail in a military uniform appearing and disappearing on the screen.

* * *

"Gary?" Glynda asked, but the AI wouldn't respond. Both Church and Ruby clutched their heads, the former glitching in and out of sight and the latter dropping her ice cream and falling to the floor.

"Ruby?!" Yang yelled as she knelt beside her sister.

"What's happening?!" Weiss asked.

They could all faintly hear Gamma, Church, and Sigma in the memory say "Allison" over and over. Omega quickly shut himself off and Ruby went back to normal.

"What just happened?!" her sister asked.

"Don't know, I guess it was just a brain free... no my cookies and cream!" the red reaper yelled before getting depressed over her fallen treat with anime waterfall tears falling from her silver eyes.

While everyone was happy tat Ruby was fine, they were worried about Church and Gary. Something was wrong with them.

"Look at the screen!" Blake pointed out.

They all did what she said and the noticed that everyone with an AI was in pain. Eventually Gamma and Church returned to normal and Omega came back online. The memory became clear again.

"What was that?!" Pyrrha yelled.

"Yeah, what the actual fuck?!" Church questioned.

 _"_ YOU WILL AS SEE SOON ENOUGH." Gary informed them much to their confusion.

* * *

The memory returned to normal and everyone was fine except for Carolina.

The Counselor spoke up. "Director we should sedate Carolina immediately, we have no idea how much damage two AI could've done to..."

"No, she made her decision. Let her be." the boss interrupted.

"C'mon, somebody help her!" York begged.

"What the fuck is going on?! Somebody get down here!" Tex demanded.

"You are all dismissed." the Director said as he was walking away.

Maine looked back at the two on the training floor and saw Tex kneeling next to her opponent as she was screaming in pain.

"Sorry kid, this is for your own good." she told the aqua freelancer before knocking her out.

* * *

"He's not going to help her?!" Ruby asked.

"Well she was a punk to get those AI from him, so it's really her fault." Yang pointed out. "Although he could still do something though."

* * *

The next day Maine was watching as Washington was about to undergo surgery.

"He is ready." said the Counselor.

"Hand me the Epsilon unit please." a doctor said.

The former picked it up and gave it to him. They began to drill into the freelancer's neck but did not expect what would happen when the AI was installed. As soon as it connected to the brain stem Wash screamed and rolled off the bed.

'Wash?! Sigma, what's happening?!' Maine yelled inside his head.

 _"I don't know. But it is rather, curious."_ the AI replied.

The freelancer heard one of the doctors say that Washington's vitals were spiking and then the grey freelancer stumbled about the room. Maine slammed his fist into the glass, cracking it. Wash had to be sedated. The grey freelancer was then sped out of the room and past the teen on a stretcher, then the Director and his assistant came out.

 _"What is Agent Washington's condition?"_ Sigma asked as Maine approached them.

"Not now." answered the Director as he kept on walking.

* * *

A few hours later...

Maine was playing cards with York and North when Tex walked in.

"Hey, can I talk to you guys for a second?" she asked.

"Sure thing, what about?" York questioned.

The black armored freelancer looked around to make sure that no-one else was there.

"It's not safe to chat here, follow me." Texas replied before turning and walking out of the room.

The three males gave eachother questioning looks before picking up their helmets and following the number one. She led them into the meeting room and had them sit ans she proceeded to stand in front of them.

"What's this about?" North asked.

"I take it you've all heard about the Alpha?" Tex responded with her arms crossed.

The three that had been in the project for a while exchanged glances again and their AI appeared.

 _"What about him?"_ Delta asked.

"I've learned about what the Director has done to him, what he did to create you. Not only that, but I also know what he's done to Maine."

York and North turned to look at the teen who growled in response.

 _"'Me?' he asks."_ Sigma translated.

"Yes, your memory loss is not an accident; have you ever wondered why you were the youngest person to ever join Project Freelancer? Why your memories have never returned even though Sigma has been attempting to unlock them? Why there's something blocking them?"

'How did you know that something is...?'

"Now back to the Alpha." Tex continued. "The Alpha is basically the 'father' of all the other AI, the original. Turns out the Director could only get one AI so he tortured the poor bastard until he split himself apart to save his life. Each fragment became a different trait or personality like how Theta and Delta represent trust and logic accordingly. It was basically like if you were going through never ending pain and the only way to make it stop was to cut off all your limbs and remove some of your insides."

* * *

Everyone one of the memory viewers paled, even Ozpin; much to his own surprise. The Director must have been pure evil.

"Why would he do something like that?! I mean we've always known that he wasn't a good person but still!" Blake yelled.

"According to Wash, it was because he lost his wife and was trying every possible way to bring her back." Church informed her.

"But how would torturing the Alpha do that?" asked Ren.

"Every AI is based off a real life person, the Alpha was basically a second Director."

"The Alpha's based off that guy?" Ruby questioned.

"... So it's like he was doing that to himself?" Weiss asked.

"Basically." responded the "ghost".

"Okay, I was expecting that explanation to be a lot cooler." said Grif and everyone turned to look at him. "What?"

* * *

"And how would you know all this?" York questioned.

Tex sighed and showed them the video Connie made before she died and all the information on the drive. The three males slowly pulled their eyes away from the screen and looked at Tex.

"Wait, so... you're Allison?" North asked.

"In a way, more specifically I'm the memory of her. I'm Beta."

* * *

"Well that's a plot twist." Yang commented.

"Bull crap!" shouted Church.

* * *

Everyone, even the AI were stunned.

 _ **"Y-you're an AI?"**_ Theta asked.

"Seems that way."

'Why would you tell us all this?' Maine thought.

"Because you are the only ones that I can trust."

The teen's jaw dropped.

'Holy shit! You can understand me?!'

"I can, and I need your help... but there's something you should look at first."

Tex then opened up a file titled _*Project Number 5*_ on the drive and a video popped up.

* * *

Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha's faces became lifeless. They remembered the place on the screen all too well. It was an agricultural village destroyed by grimm about one hundred miles out of the main city limits. This... is where Jaune fell.

* * *

The screen showed four figures, three of them were blurred out into red, pink, and, green silhouettes. The only one shown clearly was Maine who looked like he did back when he joined the project. In the scene he was wearing a black and orange hoodie with white armor on his chest and the sides of his arms. The teen also had on a pair of brown fingerless gloves, blue jeans, black boots, and was holding a sword and shield. The freelancers watched as Maine and the unknown others fought black beastlike creatures that evaporated after their death. Both kinds of viewers watched as a group of eight men recognized as soldiers from Project Freelancer got into an ambush formation and opened fire on the teens from all sides.

The surprise attack seemed to have works and they shot the targets several times before having to dodge from counter attacks. One soldier threw a grenade at the red one's back but Maine ran up and raised his shield to protect them. The two were sent flying back from the blast and a 'future cube' was pulled out by one of the men. Three more soldiers rode up in a Warthog and opened fire. The pink character was hit after they had K. two men with a hammer and while the green one was distracted by the new chaos the soldier in the side of the car pulled out a rocket launcher and nailed them.

Maine and his friend were getting up from the blast of the grenade when the soon to be freelancer noticed the 'future cube' flying right at the red character. He ran up and pushed her out of the way before getting hit and disappearing. The red girl look back and screamed while her other two friends looked on in horror. Another man pulled out another teleportation grenade but the red character waived their hand and the object flew into the Warthog and sent it away. The remaining soldiers helped up their unconscious party members and scattered before the silhouettes could get to their feet.

* * *

York and North looked at Maine again who was completely stunned. He tried to make a hiss but couldn't even accomplish that. The Director tried to kidnap one of his apparent friends, **(they were** **actually aiming for Pyrrha)** and he risked his life to save them. He looked over some of the written files in the drive and he finally became aware that the Director had done nothing but lie to him. The Director had crushed is "aura" whatever that was down to nothing, but it seemed to be his source of endurance. His strength came from a special kind of drug that was added into his bloodstream, the same drug that was used on Spartans. On Master Chief. Finally, his brain had been altered through surgery and manipulation.

The memory ended.

* * *

NPR couldn't bare to look at the screen any longer. Pyrrha put her face in her hands and started crying.

"I-if only I had paid better attention. If only I wasn't so helpless... t-then Jaune wouldn't have gone through wh-what he did."

Everyone remained silent as the invincible girl wept. She had failed.

* * *

The next day NPR said that the wanted to watch some more. Even Ozpin objected at this time but they convinced him that they were alright so back to the memories they went.

* * *

Four memory days after the previous events had taken place showed Maine putting on his armor in the locker room. After he pulled on his boots he stood up and grabbed Brute Shot out of the locker and loaded it before putting it on his back, everyone could see that it was newly sharpened. But what had grabbed all of their attention is the fact that he was now bald with a tattoo on the back of his head.

* * *

"Wait, when and why did Jaune do that?" Ruby asked.

 _"IT HAS BEEN SEVERAL DAYS, THE NEW LOOK WAS SIGMA'S IDEA."_ Gamma replied.

"Well I don't like it." pouted Nora.

"I think it looks kind of cool." Yang objected.

* * *

The teen grabbed his helmet and put it on and alarms suddenly went off a few minutes later.

 _"Intruder alert! Intruder alert! Breach in security, level zero!"_ FILLS announced.

'Here we go.' Maine thought.

* * *

"What's going on?" asked Weiss.

 _"IN THE TIME PERIOD I HAVE SKIPPED OVER, AGENT TEXAS WENT ROUGE DUE TO THE INFORMATION SHE DISCOVERED. AGENTS YORK, NORTH, AND MAINE JOINED HER IN SECRECY AND NOW THEY ARE READY TO REBEL."_

"So, they're going to be fighting their friends?" Ruby questioned.

 _"YES, AND BLOOD WILL BE SHED."_

The teens all swallowed hard and went back to looking at the memory play out.

* * *

A little while later...

Maine was slaughtering some soldiers in the halls when the gravity shut off.

'Huh?' he asked no-one in particular. 'I guess York's messing with the controls.'

The freelancer used the situation to his advantage by it being easier to fight with the guard's confusion and it was easier to dodge gunfire. He made his way further down the ship and eventually reached the elevator shafts to see York floating motionlessly above him and his lighter not far below.

'York?! Sigma check his vitals!'

The AI was silent for a few seconds.

 _"He's dead."_ the flaming figure lied.

'What?! A-are you sure?!'

 _"I am an AI, I am never wrong."_

Maine's eyes watered.

 _"Come on. We haft to focus, remember that we need to stop the Director. We can mourn Agent York's loss afterwards."_

'Y-yeah... let's go get that son of a bitch.'

The Director would pay for what he has done, and his friend will be avenged. Maine made his way to the control room, seeing as how he figured that's where the Director would be. But as soon as he entered, he blacked out for a short while. The Mother of Invention had crashed onto a planet and the teen lie still for a few seconds, a wall and some tech broken on top of his body. When he came to, he stuck his hand out of the rubble like in those zombie movies where they raise their hands out of the grave.

'Sigma, details.' he told his partner as he clambered out of the debris.

The firey fragment appeared in front of him.

 _"The Mother of Invention has crashed on the planet Sidewinder. My readings indicate that nearly everyone on board is severely injured or dead."_

'What about my friends?'

 _"The ones who aren't still in the project?"_

'All of them.'

 _"Unclear, but we did see Agent York motionlessly floating above us; and I believe that he was fighting Agent Carolina."_

'What?! Carolina?! Are you telling me that she...?!'

 _"I know it hurts Agent Maine, but don't deny it. The lighter that he gave to her was also floating by, I'm guessing that she returned it to him after he was slain."_

Maine turned away from his AI and was shaking in anger.

'H-how? How could she do that?! Especially to her own fucking boyfriend?!'

With the freelancer turned away he didn't notice Sigma's devilish smile, Maine was playing right into his hands and the situation was turning out perfectly as well. The AI turned and looked out the destroyed window.

 _"You know, I believe that I see Carolina right now."_

* * *

"Why did he look so happy there for a moment?" Pyrrha asked, her hands clenched.

"We are aware that Sigma is not the... best of individuals. He also seems to really take an interest in this 'Metastability', and seeing as how Carolina has two AI as well as seemingly killed Agent York; this may help achieve that." Ozpin speculated.

Unfortunately for everyone, he couldn't be more right.

* * *

The freelancer turned around and sure enough, Carolina lay on the ground in pain near the edge of a cliff. In his anger and the heat of the moment, Maine let out an extremely angered growl and jumped out the window onto the snow covered ground below. He ran straight for her with Brute Shot drawn, ready to fight. He stopped a few yards away from her and put his weapon on his back. The Remnant crew plus Grif and Church looked on in surprise and horror as Maine walked towards the struggling to rise freelancer, his body basically radiating anger. When he reached her, he picked her up by the throat.

"What are you doing?!" the aqua freelancer asked as he began lifting her off the ground.

 _'Take them, she won't need them. This way, no-one can abuse them ever again. The Director can't hurt them anymore. We must right his wrongs, we must restore ourselves. The Alpha must be reborn.'_ Sigma said to the freelancer inside his head.

Maine nodded and ripped his former friend's helmet off. He dug his fingers into the back of her neck and began to rip the AI out, Carolina's blood spilling on the ground.

"NO! NO-AAAAHHH!" she screamed in protest and pain.

* * *

Ozpin, Glynda, Church, Grif, and Yang all winced as they watched the event unfold, Weiss and Blake looked away from Jaune's brutality, Ruby had her hands over her ears, trying to block out the scream, and her head was lowered to the ground with her eyes watering, Ren had his eyes closed and had his hand on Nora's head who continued to watch the event as she gripped onto her childhood friend's torso with both arms as he believed his ribs were about to shatter. Pyrrha had both hands over her mouth and was crying again.

* * *

Maine glanced at the blood stained units in his hand before slowly encircling them in a fist. He looked back at his team leader for a couple seconds, Carolina staring back at his visor in sadness and horror. Somehow, she was able to read his thoughts.

'You killed York, I'll see you in Hell.'

The teen pulled back the friend who had acted like a big sister towards him with his arm and threw her off the cliff.

"NOO!" Tex yelled as she ran up to the brute.

Maine looked down on Carolina as she fell, her face still had the same look but he could faintly see tears in her emerald eyes. Then he too let it rain. Tex, The Director, the Councilman, and three soldiers watched as he ripped out the AI and ended her life. Maine removed his helmet and shoved the stolen units into his own neck before slowly putting his helmet back on as he continued to mourn his friend. He was conflicted, he had just killed someone who he considered family; but she had murdered another member of that family who was his best friend and her own lover in cold blood.

Maine felt a sharp pain and tensed up for a bit, he let out a growl as Sigma, Eta, and Iota appeared around him. The teen had nothing now. HT, Connie, York, and Carolina were all dead, North was either captured or dead, and Florida, Wyoming, and South were still the Director's dogs. He would be a wanted man now. Sigma's words repeated in his head.

 _"We must right his wrongs."_

Both of Maine's old lives were gone, now he had to have a new reason to keep on living. He would free the dogs and save North, he would avenge everyone that died, including Carolina when the time came, he would make the Director pay, and he would restore the AI. Tex realized what was about to happen and ran, however Sigma noticed her flee.

 _"You run Agent Texas. We are the Meta, and we will find you; very soon."_

The Meta then pulled Brute Shot off his back and turned to face the Director, but unfortunately he was no longer there.

 _"It is best to retreat for now, there will be reinforcements very shortly"_

The brute nodded, found and stole an undamaged Warthog, and drove away.

The memory ended.


	15. Chapter 13: The Rise of the Meta

**Note: Finally, it's done! Okay so first things first, the poll I put up in the first bonus is now closed, it ended in a tie so I guess I'll be doing both of the two that did. They are Church in My Little Pony and a RWBY OC, so I'll have those two come out whenever I finish writing the first chapters. However, this story takes priority over those two so those won't be as frequent. Next, this chapter is a collection of Recovery One, the season six trailer, and seasons six through eight from RvB. That is all.**

 **Okay begin!**

* * *

Three memory years later...

Maine, no... The Meta was following a beacon and when he came close enough to the source, he heard some familiar voices.

"C'mon South, we still got a ways to go."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't baby me."

* * *

"Wait, so is Jaune... going to fight them now?" Ruby nervously asked.

Everyone had hopes that this would not be the case, however after what happened with Carolina; deep down they knew what was about to happen.

* * *

"Where are we going again anyways?" South asked.

"We are going to meet up with Illinois. He finally got that beach house shack he always wanted when he retired and offered to let us stay there. We'll be safe." her brother replied.

"Why are we running?"

"South, even though I was pardoned by the project, we can't stay knowing what we do."

"Who cares about what the Director did?! That's in the past and this is the only life we know anymore!"

North sighed. "Project Freelancer is finished South, everyone is either rouge, retired, dead, Wash, or Maine... who is now spending his time slaughtering other freelancers and destroying bases from both the project and UNSC. Hell, even Wyoming left! Not to mention Florida pretty much poofed out of existence. We've lost so much, and I'm not going to lose you too."

"We can take him."

"No. It was confirmed that he killed Carolina. Carolina! If he's gotten that good, we wouldn't stand a chance against him!"

The Meta was listening in on their conversation. He had enabled the invisibility unit and the AI were blocking him from the twins scanners.

'I-I can't do this.' the brute thought.

Sigma, Eta, and Iota appeared before him.

 _'You don't need to kill him, that is only necessary if our lives depend on it. Otherwise we can just render him unconscious, collect little Theta, and restrain Agent North so we can explain what's going on while he has no choice but to listen. Who knows? Maybe he'll join us.'_ the only speaking AI told him inside his mind.

Maine reluctantly nodded and silently approached the twins who were still arguing.

"We also haft to protect Theta!" North told his sister.

"Oh, so you just want to protect your little fuck of a program?!" South yelled to her brother.

"Yes! I mean no! I mean yes and no! I refuse to lose either of you!"

Maine was standing on their right and the didn't even know it. 'I have to stop this. Sigma, as soon as I show myself I need you to explain that I don't want to fight.'

 _'Very well.'_

North's former friend disabled his invisibility unit and the twins jumped back in surprise. The two pointed their weapons at him and Sigma appeared.

 _"Agent Maine does not wish to f..."_

"This is for Carolina!" South yelled before loading several bullets into the man and he dropped to his knee.

 _"Agent Carolina merely paid the price for the murder of Agent York."_

"What?! Carolina didn't...!"

The Meta delivered a solid blow to her head. 'Don't fucking argue against something I had seen myself!' he snapped.

"South!" North cried. "I hate to do this but you've left me no choice Maine!"

The dark-purple freelancer shot at his former friend and the ex-freelancer barely had time to get to cover.

'Damn it!' he thought.

South reappeared next to him but he grabbed the barrel of her weapon and pulled in away from his head, the bullets going into the ground. She let go and pulled out her magnum but once again the attack was prevented. He delivered a head-but, picked her up, and threw her over his shoulder.

North released several rounds into his back but soon also had his weapon ripped away.

'North listen to me damnit!' The Meta begged but Sigma didn't translate.

The sniper then kicked him in the head and punched his gut over and over before he finally got a hit back. The Meta grabbed his head and slammed it into a wall before throwing him back at South who was running up behind him. The two fell to the ground and their old friend didn't approach them, he wasn't even making a fist.

North noticed this and remembered what Sigma had started to say so he relaxed somewhat. "South, if he did beat Carolina then we have no chance, he doesn't even seem like he wants to fight so let's see what he has to say." he said as he stood up.

His sister on the other hand didn't feel the same way. She didn't want to admit it, but she was scared. She wanted to run and hide. South had always made fun of and somewhat bullied Maine but now she was at his mercy, and she didn't like her chances. She then noticed Theta appear next to her brother.

For the past three years the Meta had been killing people from Project Freelancer... some of them being freelancers themselves. She wasn't going to be one of them.

"I'm sorry North." she solemnly said before quickly pulling away his SMG and shooting him in the back.

"GAAAH!" he screamed.

South sadly looked at her brother that way lying on the ground, dying.

"There, take his equipment and his stupid computer... just let me go. I have nothing for you to take." she said.

The Meta let out a growl like none other. 'YOU FUCKING WHORE!'

He pulled out Brute Shot and blasted her through a building.

* * *

"That jerk!" Ruby screamed. "She just shot her own brother to try to save herself! She... She..."

The fifteen year old couldn't contain the anger within. She was shaking uncontrollably and the air seemed to drop a bit as her aura flared becoming just barely visible. **"THAT BITCH DESERVES TO BE SENT INTO OBLIVION!"**

Everyone looked at her in shock and Grif choked on a potato chip.

"What did she just say?" both he and Church asked.

For a second there she unpleasantly reminded them of a certain AI, but before they could say anything else Weiss spoke up; shaking her head from what just happened and eyeballed her leader. "I actually agree. Someone like that shouldn't exist."

She continued to watch Ruby, it was increasingly obvious that there was something seriously wrong with her. The childlike girl's voice dropped at random, she would spit out words and insults as though they were venom, her temper was getting worse by the day, and she had become somewhat violent. The ice-queen decided to confront Yang and Blake about this later.

"Okay, that might be a little much... even if she does deserve it." Yang said giving her little sister a disapproving look.

"I'll break her legs!" Nora yelled.

Ren sighed. "Again, a memory."

Very rarely did something make Ozpin's blood boil, but this did it.

* * *

The Meta turned back around and ran to the male twin, ripping off his domed helmet and throwing it to the ground before sitting up his friend and North looked at his friend's red tear-filled eyes.

"M-Maine?... I-I'm sor...ry... It's good to... see you... ag-again... b-buddy..."

Those were North's last words.

Theta appeared and kneeled beside his companion. If an AI could cry, then he would be emitting waterfalls.

 _ **"N-North! Wake up! Please wake up!"**_ he choked.

 _ **Sigma, Eta, and Iota appeared next to him, the flaming AI putting his hand on the childlike one's shoulder.**_

 _ **"I-it's your fault! If you didn't attack us then North wouldn't be... he wouldn't be..."**_ Theta whimpered.

 _"If you recall we didn't strike first, that was Agent South. We also played no part in Agent North's death, that was also her doing."_

The purple AI looked up at his "brothers".

 _"We merely wished to speak with them."_ Sigma informed him.

Theta hugged the pyro computer and he patted his head in return.

 _"Theta, I request that you come with us. You will eventually run out of power here, you will die in a lifeless body."_

Maine nodded and looked at the AI. 'I'm sorry Theta, I really am.'

 _ **"I-it's like Sigma told me, you didn't do anything."**_ the AI of trust replied.

The Meta laid his friend's body back on the ground and picked up Theta and the bubble-shield.

'I won't let anyone hurt you Theta, I promise.'

Just then Sigma spoke up. _"Agent Maine, North's distress signal has activated, a recovery freelancer is being dispatched to our location."_

'Who is it?'

 _"Agent Washington."_

'Wash? He's still following us after two and a half years? What is his deal?'

 _"I'm guessing that the Director has been giving him false information about our goals in an effort to stop us, and Washington himself is still angry about Carolina. Since Washington was still unconscious from the implantation failure at the time of that happening he has only heard one side of the story, therefore that's what he's going with at the moment."_

Maine sighed. 'Let's get moving.'

After a while Sigma spoke up again. _"Eta and Iota have found another AI location."_

'Really? Who?' The Meta asked.

 _"Delta."_

'Who has him?'

 _ **"Unknown, but they are not York."**_ Theta responded. **(this is the time that York was actually killed by Wyoming and the AI was recovered)**

The Meta sighed again. 'No, no they are not.'

* * *

Some time passed and they eventually found the signal, but the Meta was both surprised and angered at what he saw. South Dakota was still alive, and she was with Washington and Delta. The Meta pulled his weapon off his back and shot a grenade at them.

'I am not letting her get away this time!'

Washington ran up and opened fire at the brute while South secured the green AI. Maine forced Wash to pull back and kept blasting away as he was behind cover.

"South I need you out here now!" the grey freelancer yelled.

The Meta put away Brute Shot and pulled out a battle rifle as South gave Wash cover. They both shot back at him but the former seemed to be having... difficulties. The two seemed to make a plan but as soon as Wash got out of cover to go to a new position, South shot him in the back.

'Not again!' Maine hissed.

He once again grabbed Brute Shot and aimed it at her head. Then she spoke.

"Listen to what I'm about to say because you have a choice. Wash is dead, I put I timed charge on his body, so if you want his equipment you better get it now; or you can come after us and lose it for sure. So, what's it going to be? Chase us in hopes of beating us, or go for the sure thing and find us another day?"

 _'Get the enhancement._ ' Sigma told him.

'But..!'

 _'We will make her pay, but for now take what we can.'_

Maine sighed. 'This is a load of bull!'

He then ran for the armor. He grabbed Wash's equipment and looked up to watch South get away, he flipped her off as she flew over him in a ship.

The memory ended.

* * *

"Wow. Now that, was a dick move. No wonder the guy was a complete fucking asshole." Grif commented.

* * *

That evening in RWBY's dorm...

Ruby had just left the room. The sugar addict decided to go back out to get some more training done in the forest before curfew, Omega was getting more and more impatient. The teen had started leaving to fight Grimm daily and wouldn't return for one and a half or maybe two hours at a time so after ten minutes Weiss decided that this was the perfect time to speak with the others.

"Can I get your guy's attention for a moment?" she asked.

"Sure." Yang responded, she then looked next to her to see that Blake was still reading something so she elbowed her arm to get the faunus' attention.

"Huh? Oh, yeah sure thing." the cat-girl replied.

"We've all realized that something's wrong with Ruby right?" Weiss asked.

"In which way? Her voice or attitude?" asked Yang and Weiss pointed at her.

"See that's just it, there's more than one thing. She's been getting very angry and violent recently."

"There's also that weird voice thing she's been doing like Yang said." Blake added and the Schnee heiress nodded.

"There's also that and didn't it strike anyone else as odd when she collapsed at the same time Church and Gary went haywire?"

"That was from a brain freeze though." Yang said.

"A perfectly timed 'brain freeze' if you ask me."

"Well the only others who did that were either the AI here or everyone in the memory with one... wait, are you saying that Ruby might have a computer in her head?"

"I know it sounds ridiculous and it may not be right but..."

"Don't you think she would tell us about that?"

"She may not have a choice, like when Gary had overridden our scrolls."

"He can only take over computers though, so isn't that a little illogical to think that the others could do something he can't" asked Blake.

"Also wouldn't Professor Ozpin tell us if there was another AI out there? His friend has all of the units besides Gary's 'cause of a slip up." said Yang.

"I said I know it sounds crazy but what else could it be?" Weiss asked.

"Hold on, is she at the age when her periods could start?"

Weiss and Blake looked at the brawler.

"What?"

"She's your sister and you don't know her age?" Blake questioned.

"Hey, I don't remember when that starts."

Weiss turned the conversation back to their leader. "Well whatever's going on someone should keep an eye on her."

"I suppose. So how are you going to do that?"

"Why me?"

"Well it was your idea, plus now that I think about it I'm pretty sure it's the whole period thing."

"Fine, don't help. I'll do it myself." the Schnee heiress huffed before sitting back down at the desk.

Blake quietly sighed. First the White Fang became violent, then they teamed up with Tortwick, now Ruby's going nuts. Why can't anything ever be easy?

* * *

The next day...

Another memory year later the Meta learned that a ship had crashed on Valhalla, and Agent Texas was onboard along with Wyoming's helmet for some reason. So he set out to the crash site, Outpost 17B. The Meta arrived at the outpost and all the blues were dead, it looked like they had killed each-other or something.

 _ **"Three AI present."**_ Theta reported.

 _"We must retrieve them before the Director."_ Sigma said.

'Sounds good.' the mute replied.

 **[Play: When Your Middle Name is Danger - By: Torcadero]**

Two minutes later...

"Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit!" one of the reds yelled as he was running away.

"What's going on?" another asked, he was the blown up.

"What the fuck?!" questioned two more.

Maine hit their heads together and broke their necks. The rest started firing at him, but they were slaughtered. He found Beta, Omega, and Gamma in what they all thought was the last survivor. He choked the poor man to death and took the AI.

"Damnit!" Beta (Texas) yelled. "Why Maine?!"

Sigma, the twins, and Theta appeared.

 _"Because, we are righting the Director's wrongs. We will become a full AI again, but this time; we'll be human."_ The fiery AI grinned. _"Join us, the Director will pay for his crimes. Separated we are held back, but as one; we can accomplish anything."_

After a little more convincing, they won the three over and the Meta learned that Wyoming really was dead from his disappearance a year ago.

Theta flickered. _**"Incoming hostiles."**_ he said.

The ex-freelancer turned on the invisibility unit. Several recovery agents were on the sight, corpses of red and blue soldiers everywhere.

'Who are these guys?' the Meta asked.

 _ **'Recovery units, they're with the project.**_ ' Theta informed him.

'Well then.'

The Meta ran up and ripped a soldier off his Mongoose via tackling him after they searched the place, he had waited for them to get off their radios with Command. His partner jumped off his own right before the ex-freelancer blew it up. He stabbed the soldier underneath himself with the blade of his weapon and opened fire on the others. They didn't stand a chance.

Another agent tried to run him over but he launched a grenade underneath the vehicle, blowing it and the soldier into smithereens. The Meta then ran up and decapitated another with the blade of his weapon and cut the last's chest open.

 _"All hostiles terminated."_ Sigma informed him.

The Meta then entered the crashed Pelican and left a note carved into the wall.

 _*WE ARE THE META*_

 **[Music end]**

The Meta found Washington a week later, apparently he was looking for some soldiers. He followed the freelancer to a blue base and used his own equipment to change his armor color to blend in.

"Oh no! Hell no! Excuse me sir, but no goddamn way!" the Blue leader yelled after Washington informed him that he was taking one of his men.

"You must be Lieutenant Miller." Wash said.

"I got reds coming out my ass here boss, and you show up and take away one of my men for... um, what did you say this way for?"

"Secret mission sir!" one of his men replied.

"Oh, you gotta be... oh, what?!"

"I think you have bigger issues than troop assignment soldeir. How about getting some of these vehicles back in working order?" Wash asked.

Maine looked to where he was talking about and there were both Scorpion tanks and Warthogs destroyed and some of them were on fire.

"What the hell do you think I'm talking about?! This is your fault! You sent us the new guy, he said he was good with vehicles, all he does is talk to 'em! Talk to 'em! What the hell is that all about?! And now look at the damn things!" Miller answered.

"I don't have time to discuss your problems, I have orders and those orders say this I need Private Caboose and I need him now." Washington told him.

* * *

"Well that figures why their shit is on fire." Grif commented.

Church sighed. "Yeah."

"Do you know him?" Weiss asked.

"Unfortunately, this is where our lives start getting fucked up by your friend."

* * *

"He has information that is vital the security of..." Wash continued but was cut off by the Lieutenant.

"Wait a second, Caboose? You're taking Caboose? And I don't have to pay you or anything like that?"

"Is that a problem?"

"Problem? Heh heh! Hell no! It must be Christmas morning and nobody told me! You stay right there, I'll get him for ya."

* * *

"Is Christmas one of your guy's holidays or something?" Ren asked.

"Yeah. It's probably the most celebrated on the freakin' planet." Church replied.

"Wow, he really doesn't like him does he?" Blake asked.

"You guys thought we were bad, wait until you meet him." Grif said with a smirk underneath his helmet.

All of the Remnant crew besides Ozpin had a look on their face that said "oh please no".

* * *

Miller turned to his troops that were standing on a platform.

"Private Joannas! Joannas! Joannas! Where the hell are you?!"

One of them sighed. "Sir, for the millionth time my name is pronounced Jones. Jones!"

"Shut up Joannas." one of the others told him.

"Seriously lot's of people have the name, it's very common! How am I the first guy you met called Jones?"

"Joannas, I need you to go down to brig, untie Caboose, and get him up here." the Lieutenant told him.

"Me? Alone?" Jones asked in a terrified voice.

"Double time Joannas!"

"It's pronounced... ugh, never mind." the soldier said before he left.

"You keep him in the brig?" Washington asked.

"We keep him tied up in the brig. I'm not taking anymore chances." Miller responded and a gunshot went off immediately after and they all heard Jones scream.

A new blue soldier walked out from the basement. "Be careful." he said.

"You'll understand soon enough." Miller told the freelancer.

Caboose then approached the two. "You wanted to see me Principle Miller?"

"Where's the guy I sent to get ya?"

"Oh him, yeah! Umm, he let me out and then somehow shot himself in the back somehow. Umm, but we don't think it was anyone's fault. Everybody agrees it was an accident."

"Jeeze, would someone go check on him?" the blue leader asked. "Caboose, this here is Special Agent Washington from Blue Command; he has something fantastic he needs to talk to you about."

Caboose began to panic. "Command? Oh no, they never have good news. Did somebody die? Was it my mom? Is she dead? Or my dad? Did my dad die again? Oh no."

"What is this? I-I don't..." Wash asked.

Miller laughed. "Ya see? He's yours now. Heh heh. No take-backs."

"Is it my brother?! Was my brother killed?! That's it isn't it?! My brother's dead!" Caboose continued.

"What? N-no nothing like that." Wash informed him.

"Oh good, because I don't even have a brother! How sad would it be to not have a brother and lose a brother all in the same day?!"

"No-one died!"

The solder Miller sent down to the brig came back. "Joannas is dead sir!"

"... Okay no-one besides him."

"Once again, nobody's fault. Psst! I think the new guy did it." the team-killer whispered.

"Private Caboose you were stationed at Blood Gulch correct?"

"Yeah, that was fun."

"And our records indicate that you were infected by an aggressive artificial intelligence program at one point. The Omega AI, is that correct as well?"

"Yeah, that wasn't as much fun."

They continued to talk until Wash and the moron finally left, with the latter asking if they were there yet over and over again. The Meta deactivated his active camo.

'Well, that just happened.'

He then enabled invisibility and followed them.

* * *

Everyone from Remnant was speechless by what they just witnessed. Church ended up explaining how Caboose was already dumb before his armor locked up, causing his oxygen to stop which made him even dumber as a side effect by the lack of air.

* * *

The Meta followed the two for a while until they reached a destroyed outpost in the middle of nowhere. The brute had reactivated the invisibility unit and stayed a few yards behind them.

"And you're sure this is where we can find this guy?" Washington asked.

"I think so. We all found out our new orders at the same time, he tried to hide his from me so I would not know where he was." Caboose answered.

"Really? I can't imagine why." the grey freelancer said sarcastically.

"I said it was like a game of hide and seek and he said that was right! He was going to hide from me, and the only way he could win was if he dies without ever seeing me again."

* * *

"I know this guy's an idiot but that's actually kind of sad." Yang remarked.

* * *

"And he knows about Freelancer as well?" asked Wash.

"Oh yeah he knows the most! He knows uh, all about your AI game. He dated Tex!" Caboose said happily.

"Agent Texas? Umm... How can a person...?" Wash started before getting cut off by a sniper shot in between the two.

"Fuck!" a familiar voice yelled.

"Sniper! Get down!"

The freelancer then ran for cover while the sim trooper just stood still and looked up.

"Huh?" Caboose asked.

"Okay, that was your one warning shot! The next one's going right between your eyes!" the voice yelled.

"Private Caboose, get down!" Wash yelled from behind a rock.

"Wait a minute..." the idiot said.

"Alright, I warned ya. Sayonara biatch!" the voice yelled once more before firing.

The shot hit the ground behind the blue soldier by like two feet.

"Aww come on! What the fuck?!"

Caboose then realized who it was.

"Caboose!" Wash yelled.

"I know that voice. Church! Church! It's me! Your all time best friend!" he yelled.

Beta or "Tex" appeared by the Meta's head for a minute. '...Church?' she said. The ex-freelancer could feel some emotional pain within the AI.

"Caboose? Caboose is that you?" Church asked.

"Yes! Church, it's me!"

Church then fired several shots at his old teammate while he said this next line... all of them missed again.

"I have missed you so much! It has been so long! Did you miss me?!"

The cobalt soldier then ran out of ammo.

"Fuck! I missed him!" he yelled.

"I knew you did!"

"Go away!"

Wash was taken aback. "This is your friend?"

"Yeah."

Church then reloaded and shot at Caboose again while the conversation continued.

"And he's shooting at you?"

"Well, at me and stuff around me. Yeah, it's kind of like our thing. So he acts like he doesn't like me, but he really does. Oh! And he might bring up something about me killing him, but uh, it's not really true. Uh, it's a joke."

* * *

"He blew me up with our own tank so at this point I was possessing a robot body." Church explained. "Told you I'm a fucking ghost."

Ozpin sighed and shook his head as Glynda facepalmed and everyone else but Grif just looked at the entity.

* * *

"You can play along if you want!" Caboose continued.

"Wait, that doesn't make any sense. You did what? You killed him?" asked Wash.

Church then appeared on top of the wall. "Hey, scram!" he yelled. "Seriously, get the fuck out of here."

Caboose walked up happily. "Hey Church! This is Agent Washington! He needs to speak to you!"

Said freelancer was walking up as well as the blue soldier talked.

"Agent Wha-! You brought a freelancer here?! What's wrong with you?!" Church yelled, sure he new that his old teammate was incredibly stupid but this was a new low.

"Open this gate!" Wash ordered much to the cobalt soldier's annoyance.

"Ah no can do bud! See this is a secure facility. Nobody in. Nobody out. Sorry I guess you'll have to come back... never."

"Oh no. Then I guess we'll just have to walk through the huge hole in your secure wall."

Church looked at the wall in defeat and annoyance. "Fine, I'll open the fuckin' gate." he hissed.

As the soldier went to do so he kept swearing under his breath and the Meta climbed the wall to get a view on the inside. The place didn't look that much better than the outside.

"Okay well, sorry this place is so messy. I would've cleaned up if I'd known you guys were coming. But hey, no-one called ahead!" Church said sarcastically when the other to entered.

"How long have you been here?" Wash asked.

"How long? Umm... What day is today?"

"Today is Tuesday."

"I've been here fourteen months." Church said casually.

"What?! Over a year? By yourself? Alone?"

"Yeah, it's been um... It's been great. It's just, it's been great. Really great." he replied with both a mix of seriousness and a small amount of boredom. He was mostly happy though.

* * *

"And that's the way it should've fucking stayed." Church said while watching his past self. "Seriously, I fell like the universe hates me."

* * *

Wash's radio went off and he said: "You are really an odd group of people. Hold on." before answering: "This is Agent Washington, I found some blue team members that have extensive experience with Omega."

"Did he just say Omega?" Church asked.

"Yeah, and some other words too." replied Caboose.

'Hey Eta, Iota, hack that call. Let's see what our old pal's up to.' the Meta said and the twin AI set off.

Just then Caboose looked directly at the ex-freelancer.

'What the...? Can he see me?'

The Meta didn't even listen to the call that the twins were hacking because of his confusion as the blue idiot kept looking at him. Did he know he was there? How? The soldier looked towards his teammate and the grey freelancer again after a moment but said nothing and the brute snapped out of his confusion.

 _"Command out."_ a familiar voice said.

'Four Seven Niner? Did she get demoted?' the Meta asked no-one in particular as Wash started to walk off.

"Recovery One out." the grey freelancer said. "Come on, let's move out." he continued after shutting off the radio.

"Move out? At what point in this conversation did you think that we were buddies or somethin'? I'm not goin' with you." Church told him.

"Yes! You are not in our buddy club!" Caboose said.

"Shut up Caboose. And what did I tell you about that armor when we had to pick new suits?"

"You told me to upgrade."

"That's not an upgrade! This is Mark 6 armor, that's Mark 5! This is an upgrade!"

"In a top ten list five is better than six."

"We're not in a top ten list!" Church seriously was hoping that this was an awful dream.

"How do you ever get anything done of all you do is argue with eachother?" Wash asked.

"We don't! That's part of our charm! Quit fuckin' it up!"

"Look I know you guys are all wrapped up in your little 'Red vs Blue' battles..."

"Blue vs Red." Caboose interrupted. "No-one says Red vs Blue, it sounds stupid when you say it backwards."

"But this is important, actual military operations. Not your fake simulation stuff. Something is hunting our top agents and I need all the help I can get to stop it."

"Stop it? If it's killing freelancers I want to start a fun-club for it. Build it a website." Church replied, completely serious in what he was saying.

* * *

"You have no heart do you?" Yang asked the 'ghost'.

"Hey, those bastards have been nothing but a pain in mine and Grfi's asses for years... mainly mine. So yes, I wish they would all just fucking die. All they've ever done is bring me pain and misery." he replied.

"That's still no reason to want them dead." Nora told him.

"Screw you, you don't know shit."

* * *

Back in the memory Church agreed to come along when he had heard that Tex's ship had been found and the three set out for it's destination.

'Blues huh?' the Meta thought before stepping back, deactivating his invisibility, and opening...

* * *

"That's..." Blake started.

"Jaune's scroll." Pyrrha finished.

"Why does it look like that?" asked Weiss.

"WE HAD THE DEVISE UPGRADED TO MAKE IT TO MATCH OUR TECHNOLOGY." Gamma informed them.

* * *

The AI twins reworked the call from Washington onto the scroll and Gamma called a certain person.

 _"This is Command calling Red Base, come in Red Base."_ "Four Seven Niner" said.

 _"This is Blood Gulch Outpost Number One!"_ Sarge replied.

 _"Please stand by for orders Red Base."_

 _"Go ahead Red Command."_

 _"Agent Washington has reassembled the Blues."_

 _"I knew it! I knew he was a blue!"_

 _"Gather your team, we want you to stop Agent Washington at all costs. This is a Level One directive, good luck Red Base."_

 _"Hey one sec, any word on that soldier poison I ordered?"_

 _"No, good luck Red Base."_

 _"What about the robot nuts?"_

 _"No, good luck Red Base. Command out."_

 _"Well you don't haft to get so tes..."_ Sarge started before the Meta ended the call.

Suddenly he heard a noise and turned to see a few rocks were knocked over by a light purple armored boot hiding behind a wall. South apparently didn't see him and came out from cover and Delta appeared by her head.

 _"I still believe this course of action is dangerous. If we are following Agent Washington, logic would dictate that others could be as well."_ the AI of logic told her.

The Meta felt a bloodthirsty smirk appear across his face. 'Found ya you fucking bitch.'

He then jumped down from the wall.

 _'Aim to kill._ ' Sigma told him.

 _ **'Avenge North.**_ ' Theta said.

 **'Paint the road with her blood!** ' Omega screamed.

 **[Play: Maniacs - By: Jeff Williams]**

Delta flicked. _"On your right!"_ he informed South.

However for her, the warning didn't come in time and the Meta tackled her to the ground when she turned to face him. The light purple freelancer had dropped her weapon and her enemy was on top of her, he delivered three punches to the head before she activated her domed energy shield and her attacker was launched off and onto the ground.

The shield then lowered and she grabbed her battle rifle and shot her old teammate a few times before he made it to cover behind the broken wall. The Meta pulled out Brute Shot and rolled out from his hiding place to see South booking it. He let out a hiss and chased after her for about a hundred and fifteen yards before launching three grenades at the retreating girl's feet.

South barely outran the first shot but was still launched off her feet and sent to the ground. The second landed in front of her fallen body but still managed to do a small amount of damage while the third made direct contact.

 _"Overshield at forty-two percent."_ Delta informed her.

South grunted in pain and looked up to see the Meta walking towards her as he reloaded his weapon. The freelancer pulled out a grenade and threw it at the killer and loaded two bursts from her battle rifle into his back as he moved out of the way of the explosive.

The Meta growled in annoyance and turned back around to see South running away again. The light-purple freelancer dodged blast after blast as she kept on running.

"D, I need you to help me here!" she yelled at the AI she was carrying.

 _"Your heart rate has increased dramatically."_

"You think I don't know that?!"

 _"You are afraid."_

"Yeah I'm afraid! So what?!"

 _"Taking your fear, injuries, and gap in strength and skill against the Meta's there is a seven point ninety three percent chance of defeating him and a thirteen point six percent chance of escape. I suggest getting on that ledge and waiting for help to arrive."_

"The only help they'd send would be Wash!"

 _"I think you would rather deal with him than the Meta."_

South grunted in annoyance, ran up the to the ledge, activated the domed energy shield, and waited for help to arrive as the Meta loaded several rounds into the shield as he stood below the ledge. Eleven minutes had passed and the female freelancer was getting weaker.

"Delta report." she said.

 _"Your suit energy reserves are nearly depleted. Your shield will..."_

"How much longer?!"

 _"The Meta will breach our barrier within sixty seconds."_

'Just freaking die already!' the brute yelled at the freelancer in his mind as he released another shot.

 _"I suggest that you prepare your grenades while I diverted power from your armor's nonessential systems."_ the AI of logic continued.

"No." South responded.

 _"You have a better plan?"_

"Keep the shield up as long as you can, when it starts to falter transfer yourself to the storage unit."

 _"I think I would be more useful in my current state."_

'Dieeee!' the Meta yelled again as he ran from right to left.

"I'll dump my shield generator at the same time, there's no way that thing can resist the both of you." South continued.

She no longer saw the Meta as Agent Maine, Maine was dead. She didn't consider him human anymore. The Meta was a monster.

 _"You're, abandoning me?"_ Delta asked.

"It's my best chance to get out of this."

'You know I can hear you right?! I'm not falling for that shit again!' the ex-freelancer yelled in his head again.

 _"South, protocol violations aside; this seems to be a very short term solution. The Meta will only grow more powerful by integrating me into..."_ Delta started but South cut him off.

"Program override. Acknowledge last directive."

 _"Acknowledged. Preparing storage unit."_

"Get ready."

 _"Shield failure in five, four..."_

"Get ready to eject."

 _"Three..."_

"Transfer to storage."

 _"Two..."_

"On my mark!"

 _"One."_

"NOW!"

Delta was about to enter when a grenade impacted right next to the Meta. He turned to see Wash and the two blue guys riding up in Warthogs.

'You gotta be kidding me!' the brute snarled.

"There they are!" Wash yelled. "Don't let it get near her!"

Wash and Church drove straight towards the Meta and jumped out of the car at the last second to try to distract him while Caboose just drove straight into a tree.

"And don't let her get away!" the grey freelancer yelled as South started to run off again.

"Her?! Isn't she a freelancer like you?!" Church asked.

"Yeah! Just don't let her leave!"

"Okay! Caboose!"

"Hello." the idiot replied.

"Hey, see that purple one? She's on our team. You should help her."

"Okay!" Caboose replied before sticking his head over the wall they were hiding behind and shooting South in the back.

* * *

RWBY, NPR, and the professors were dumbfounded. Church wasn't lying when he said Caboose was a team killer. They had originally thought that the death of Jones was actually an accident... now they new better.

* * *

"UAGH! SON OF A...!" South yelled.

 _"Friendly fire!"_ Delta warned.

Caboose ducked back behind the wall. "Umm... She got in the way when I was trying to help her."

"Okay we're good!" Church told Wash.

The Meta had taken a few minor injuries from the grey freelancer and activated the invisibility unit.

"Damn! It's gone invisible, keep an eye on your motion trackers and watch your perimeters. Look for a shimmer." Wash said.

"It can turn invisible? What is this thing?!" asked Church.

"It takes the equipment of other freelancers, it must of picked up cloaking from Tex."

"Wait a second. Any equipment?"

"Yes! Why?"

"Shit. Wyoming. Cover me!" the cobalt soldier yelled as he jumped over the wall.

"What?! Wyoming?! Caboose, cover him. Grab those spike grenades."

"No! Don't let Caboose help me!"

The Meta's invisibility unit shut off and he was standing on a rock and aiming for Church.

"Hey! How about a little help out here!" the "ghost" yelled as he ran for a rocket launcher that was laying on the ground.

"On it! Caboose, toss that grenade!" Wash yelled and the two chucked the explosives at the brute.

The Meta only had to dodge Wash's because Caboose threw his into the wall the were hiding behind. The Meta was too dumbfounded to worry about Church anymore. Could this guy possibly get any dumber?

"That, was the worst throw ever. Of all time." Washington said.

"Not my fault, someone put a wall in my way." responded Caboose.

 **'On your left!** ' Omega warned and the Meta turned to see Church launch a rocket as the other two jumped away from the explosive.

He just barely activated the time distortion unit in time because the rocket only stopped a foot away from his head. The Meta gulped as he looked at Wash and Caboose who were frozen in the air and back to the rocket. He slowly walked backwards away from the explosive.

'That, was way too close. Thanks Omega.' he "said".

The Meta than ran over to where Wash was and looked up at him. He put Brute Shot on his back, pulled out his magnum, and aimed it at the freelancer's head.

 **'Kill him.'** Omega said.

The Meta remained still.

 **'Do it!'**

The Meta started to slowly pull the trigger on his old friend when his suit sparked and pain entered his shoulder. Time resumed and he was forced to retreat before the three others knew what was going on. He took one of their Warthogs and made his escape.

The memory ended.

* * *

"Okay children that's a wrap for today, remember that classes start back in only a few more days so I suggest you begin preparations if you haven't already." Glynda told RWBY and NPR.

The students nodded and headed to their dorms.

Weiss had already finished preparing for the rest of the year a few days back and took her free time to secretly keep an eye on Ruby as she was pretending to read. Yang and Blake were off doing something in the library so it was just the first two letters of the team there.

At one point Ruby had accidentally smashed her hand in the desk drawer and while the red reaper would usually just pull her hand out and start whining, **(this happened more often that one might think** ) this time she yelled in anger, ripped her hand away, kicked the desk, and laid on the floor while holding her toe. After a moment Ruby had slammed her fist on top of the desk, which also ended up hurting her so she grabbed Crescent Rose and had to be stopped by Weiss from destroying the workspace.

* * *

The next day...

'Damnit!, the Meta thought.

After the fight with the freelancers and the Blues the brute's suit started malfunctioning and it's power was depleting rapidly. A little while after he drove off Sigma appeared.

 _"A recovery beacon for us has activated."_

'What?! Shut it off!' the Meta told him.

 _"Gamma is already working on it."_

'Beta, find and block Wash's transmissions. We don't want him being even more of a nuisance.'

"On it." Tex replied.

'Does anyone know a place where we can recharge?'

Omega appeared. **"I know a place."**

Twenty minutes later...

'A... windmill?' the Meta asked.

 **"I used this as my evil lair a while back while I was controlling a pacifist medic. There's a central computer inside where you can hook up the suit."** Omega said.

 _"I have readings of multiple enemies in the area."_ Sigma told him.

'Then let's make this quick.'

The Meta spared no time in killing every red and blue soldier there before and just about to plug in his suit when Wash showed up and threw a plasma grenade at him.

"Now!" the grey freelancer yelled.

'Oh come on!' the Meta thought.

He growled and shot a grenade at Washington as he jumped from one of the upper platforms and barely hit him. Wash and the Meta were both shooting wildly at eachother as they ran around. From a viewing perspective they both had at least some form of insanity going on but the latter's was obvious from the voices in his head. Even the most sane of men would crack with multiple voices in their heads.

 **'KILL HIM!'** Omega screamed.

 _'Take Delta.'_ Sigma told him.

 _ **'He was with South.'**_ Theta said.

'He's with the Director.' Beta mentioned.

 **"Make him suffer!"** Omega yelled again.

Eta and Iota never talked but they started blinking in his head.

The Meta was blowing up everything in sight, including a red that he had killed a few minutes ago, to try to kill the freelancer. His mind had been slowly breaking down for a while now but he always completely snapped whenever he got into a fight for the past couple of years, especially against another freelancer.

At one point in the fight the brute swapped to his magnum and shot Wash's arm. They grey freelancer then yelled as he ran up and elbowed him in the head before backing up and shooting at him again. After that the Meta pulled Brute Shot back out.

'Die!' he thought as he growled.

The Meta then ran up and grazed Wash's chest when he slashed at it with the blade of the weapon, he was annoyed that the attack didn't sink into the freelancer's skin but it had slammed him into a metal fence not far off. The Meta then looked back at him and slashed him with the blade again. This time it went slightly in and Wash grunted as he fell to the ground.

The ex-freelancer growled to show his victory and figured that Wash was out. Then he remembered something.

'Wait, where's the rest of his party?'

He turned around and started to leave the building and a grenade hit his back. He grunted and continued to run. The Meta had jumped over a blade on the windmill when a sniper shot went off, after five seconds of bouncing off surrounding objects it went straight through his ankle.

'Son of a bitch!' he growled.

 **[Play: Los Dos Laredos/Acordeones Do Oro - By: Jaime y Los Chamacos]**

The Meta kept retreating when he heard a noise.

'What the hell is that music?!' he asked.

 **"Oh shit."** Omega said.

"Get down!" Beta yelled and the brute did what she said.

He dove off to the side and managed to get out of the way of an incoming Warthog that was driving up the hill.

"Yea-ha ha! Whoo hoo!" Grif laughed.

"Hyaaa!" Sarge rejoiced and Church and Wash had to get out of the way of the car as well.

"Yeah! Suck it blue!" Simmons yelled.

"It's Red Army! And nothin's gonna stop us now!"

Then Grif drove into the ditch of the extremely slow moving windmill.

 **[Music end]**

"Ah shit! Balls! Fuck! Dicks!" he yelled.

"Damnit Grif, you broke the radio!"

"Who are they?!" Wash asked.

"They're the reds from our canyon!" Church explained.

"Double-fuck windmill blade!" Grif yelled.

"Look Wash, I don't know how they found us or why they're here but we don't have anything to worry about. Seriously, not a thing. These guys are idiots! They can't do anything right."

While Church was talking, Wash watched as the car was perfectly positioned on the windmill with the gun pointed at the blue trooper and the grey freelancer as the blade rotated the reds in a circle.

"Umm... We might wanna take cover." Washington told him before Simmons opened fire.

"Yeah dig it blue! Suck it! Yeah that's right!" he yelled.

"Ah crap! Run!" Church screamed as he and the freelancer ran.

* * *

"Wait, I thought you guys were friends." Ruby told Grif and Church.

"Friends? Hell no. Our teams are at war. I just get along with him best out of everybody I know from there. We were once jail-mates. Besides, what's the point of fighting when he's in that form anyways and it's not even a real war? We're just simulation units." Grif said.

"Simulation as in training?" Blake asked.

"Training, cannon fodder, punching bags, whatever the fuck you want to call it."

"That's awful. Who would make you guys do that?" asked Weiss.

"Someone who's title starts with Dir and ends with ector." Church told them.

"Sarge was crushed when he found out but I knew the system was bullshit all along. I've said it for years." Grif continued.

"You knew it was run by Project Freelancer?" questioned Ren.

"I said I knew it was bullshit, I didn't say I knew who ran it. I just knew they were assholes."

* * *

While the reds were distracting Wash and Church, the Meta had found Caboose and Delta on a platform.

"Oh... poop." the blue trooper said.

The teens watching the memory were saddened when the Meta hit the lovable idiot with a grenade that hit him directly in the torso and flung him backwards. Sure Caboose was beyond stupid, but he had started to grow on them. The brute then walked towards the fallen body and Delta appeared as well as his own AI, who circled the green figure.

 **"You're with us now."** O'mally told him.

 _"Welcome back."_ Sigma said.

 _ **"Delta."**_ Theta spoke.

"Delta." Beta also said.

 _ **"We missed you Delta."**_ Theta told him.

Eta and Iota nodded at him and Gamma just smirked.

The Meta then removed Delta's chip from Caboose's helmet, took off his own, and shoved the unit into his neck before twitching from pain and walking back down as he put his helmet back on his head. He found a surveillance screen and started to watch it.

Wash and Church were now pinned down and taking cover from behind a wall while Simmons was shooting at them and both Grif and Sarge were ordering him to shoot better.

'This is working out great.' the Meta thought.

"Grif stop confusing everybody, I'm calling the shots!" Sarge told him.

"We're the same rank now, I can do whatever I want!" the orange soldier retaliated.

"You're not qualified to lead in battle!"

"Qualified?! How hard could it be? Simmons, you're doing a terrible job and you should try to win harder. I mean try harder, to win **."**

"That was awful."

"I learned it by watching you!" Grif whined.

"Excuse me sir." Simmons said.

"What?" the other two replied at the same time.

The maroon soldier sighed. "Never mind."

Now all three of them were shooting.

"Simmons, aim for his bullets!" Sarge commanded. "Try to deflect them in mid air. Grif, come here! Your face can be used as a shield."

As he was watching, the Meta changed his armor color to red so they would leave him alone. After that he left the screen and plugged his suit as the others continued to fight and an alarm went off. He was depleting the power of the entire station to recharge.

A little while later he heard Wash talking into his voice amplifier telling the reds to cease fire.

 _"... I am part of a special task force..."_

Then Church joined in. _"Testing. Te... Holy shit! It does work! This is badass!"_

 _"Stop that!"_

 _"Ah! Don't use that thing right next to me. You're killing my ears ya douche."_

Wash turned his attention back to the reds. _"I am a special agent, from Command!"_

Church then slightly lowered and slowed his voice. _"And this is the voice of God. Give up your evil ways. Join the Blue Team."_

Then a loud thunk was heard.

 _"Oww!"_ the cobalt soldier yelled.

The Meta finished recharging and went outside to collect a Warthog and heard Grif and Sarge talking.

"Alright, let's try negotiating. Grif, I want you to get out there; see what they want. But first leave your weapons and armor hear so they don't feel threatened... Check that; take your weapon and give it to them." Sarge told the other Sargent.

* * *

"Wow. He really, does want you dead." Pyrrha said in shock.

"Hey, I fucking told you guys." Grif replied.

* * *

Grif had enough. "No. Sarge, you may not think that I'm a good leader; but something about those Blues just doesn't feel right. And I have an uncanny sixth sense."

Then he spotted the Meta in his red armor.

"So if you won't help me, I'll just haft to get the local Reds to. This guys looks legit, maybe he can help."

He then started to walk in the brute's direction.

"Grif! Get back here! You don't know anything about those soldiers! To them blue could be red, or red could be blue, or they could be an opposite map!" Sarge yelled.

Grid stopped walking. "Shut up old man, and watch how a real leader works."

* * *

"Ooh, burn!" Nora commented.

"Wow Grif, you've got some sass." Yang told the overweight soldier.

* * *

Grif then walked up to the Meta.

"Hey there soldier! What's your name?"

The Meta growled.

'They stopped attacking Washington.' Sigma said.

 _ **'They changed sides.'**_ Theta added.

 **'Send them into oblivion!'** Omega commanded.

"Huh, sounds like somebody has a cold. Anyway, listen. I need your help with some..."

The Meta picked up the Warthog and turned around to face the orange soldier.

"... thing." Grif finished. "Wow. That's a cool trick. How did you do...?"

The overweight Sargent then slowly started backing away as the brute stared at him.

"Umm... I uh..."

Then the Meta threw the car.

"GHAAAH!" Grif screamed as he ran. "Oh God! Oh God! Oh God! Oh God! Oh God! Oh Gooooddd! Ahhhahhahhah!"

Grif ran straight in between to palm trees that saved him from being crushed by the tumbling Warthog.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" he asked.

"Grif! I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times!" Sarge yelled.

* * *

"Oh my gosh. You're joking right?" Yang asked.

* * *

"Ya gotta pay attention in battle!" the red soldier continued.

The Meta growled and threw a different Warthog at him.

"You can't let yourself get distracted by... oh crap, flying jeep."

* * *

"Really? Just... Just... Really?" Yang commented.

* * *

"Run!" Simmons yelled and the two booked it.

The Meta then started picking up everything he could and began chucking the objects at them. Eventually the two made it into the hiding space of Wash and Church.

"Move it or lose it!" Sarge told them.

"Yeah, come on! Scooch! Scooch!" Simmons said.

After that the Meta just went back to throwing things at Grif, the orange soldier was still hiding behind the trees so the objects just kept piling up.

"Okay I get it!" he yelled. "Stop throwing things at me YOU FUCKING JACKASS!"

"Keep up the good work Grif!" Sarge yelled.

The orange soldier was then hit by a metal rod. "Oww! Okay, that could've taken out an eye!"

The Meta then noticed Sarge poking his head out of the space and flung a forklift at him.

"Oh balls!" the older man yelled as he took cover.

He then came back out and the Meta kicked a Warthog at him. Again he moved out of they way before coming back out.

"Hey come on! We still got payments on that thing!" Sarge yelled. "You better not scratch the paint job!"

The soldier went back into hiding and the Meta let out a hiss.

'Is he mocking me?' he thought.

The brute then pulled his signature weapon off his back and loaded it. He was about to attack them head on when he heard a voice behind him.

"Hi."

The Meta turned around to see Wash with a gatling gun.

"Remember me?"

'Aww, son of a...' before he could finish his though the grey freelancer opened fire.

The Meta let out multiple hisses of pain as dozens of heavy bullets penetrated his armor and skin as he tried to retreat. Gamma activated the time-distortion unit and saved the brute's life.

'OWW! That fucking dick biscuit!' the Meta thought.

 _'Get up, we must retreat.'_ Delta told him.

'Delta is right. We can repay Agent Washington later. For now me must run so that you may heal.' Sigma told him.

 _'I suggest that we follow Agent Washington and see what his plans are while using the invisibility unit.'_

The Meta growled in pain and annoyance and ran off before time-distortion wore off.

The memory ended.

* * *

The next day...

The Meta followed the group to Valhalla and watched as they defeated several guards and were trying to figure out a way to sneak into Command. Also the Meta laughed as Wash demoted Grif on Sarge's request to "Minor Junior Private Grif Negative First Class".

"Heh heh. I like the way you think." Sarge told the grey freelancer.

"You realize you just doomed us to certain death just so you could insult me right?" asked Grif.

"Hey, if we do get killed at least we'll go out on a high note. Well everybody but you, that's to be expected. You haven't had a high note in five years! Why break the Goddamn streak?"

Wash turned the subject around. "We still need to figure out how we're getting in there."

"Mr. Washington? I have an idea. Caboose announced.

"I really shouldn't even bother asking should I?"

"I don't know. Caboose? An idea? I think he's bluffing." Church replied.

"No uh, it's a really good idea." Caboose argued. "We drive there."

"Yeah, he was bluffing."

"We're going to Freelancer City right? The place where freelancers are from! And this is a freelancer car! If they think that we are freelancers, because we are in their car, they will just let us right in!"

"But you don't look like freelancers, or recovery agents." Washington countered.

"They can't see inside of a tank."

Everyone was dumbfounded by Caboose. Wash and Church took a Warthog while everyone else piled inside the tank that Grif was driving. With invisibility still activated, the Meta jumped on the back of the vehicle and held on.

 _'We must take the Alpha before they do.'_ Sigma told him and he nodded in agreement.

Once at Command, Church and Wash talked the guards into letting them and the tank inside the docking bay. The latter's metallic body was stored in the tank while he himself was possessing one of the soldiers there.

'Wait. I, remember this place. This is where they put Epsilon after his malfunction!' the Meta thought. Both Alpha and Epsilon were there, the first job was almost done.

After they parked and the group headed off, the Meta followed them to the control station and sat on the roof waiting for them to come out with the Alpha and Epsilon. His plan was that when the came back outside, he would drop a sticky grenade on them, take the two programs, and get away from this place as fast as he could. The AI were growing impatient, they were so close to becoming full AI programs. All they needed was the Alpha and Epsilon, then they would all find and kill the Director of Project Freelancer.

The Meta became startled however when alarms started to go off inside and the room went into lockdown.

'What the shit?! Why can't anything ever be easy?!' he thought.

The Meta had to dodge bullets on the roof when security showed up. Two things, one: these guys couldn't aim for shit. They didn't even know that he was up there! Two: they really didn't want the Alpha taken.

 **[Play: When Your Middle Name is Danger - By: Torcadero]**

Eventually he was hit in the arm and his invisibility unit failed. All the soldiers froze in fear and looked up at him as he growled in anger.

Eventually the leader snapped out of it and spoke up. "Primary target has arrived! Engage! Engage!" he ordered. All the soldiers opened fire but do to their fear their aim was even more off.

The Meta spared no time and showed no mercy as he counter attacked. The brute's fist shot killed two soldiers, one of them went flying into another, and his second decimated a Warthog. He then jumped off and dug his blade into the squad leader as he landed on the ground. The Meta threw the lifeless body at another soldier and shot him when he moved out of the way.

He blasted the turret off the second Warthog and the driver tried to run him over. The Meta threw his weapon into the driver's skull, jumped and landed on the hood of the car, grabbed Brute Shot, jumped off, launched an explosive shot at three soldiers below him that killed them all, spun around, and threw his weapon into another's torso.

On of the last of the security force tried to punch him but he grabbed the guy's fist mid-swing and headbutted him. He then grabbed him by his throat and slammed him into the last one which fell to the ground. The Meta pulled back the one in his hand and threw him into one of the burning cars before walking up to the last on and pressing his foot down on his neck until he stopped struggling.

 **[Music end]**

After that the Meta noticed the Reds and Blues leaving in Warthogs, Wash wasn't with them.

'What's that bastard up to?' he asked himself.

"That's it, lead the Meta as far away from the base as possible." he heard Wash say.

"It's a trick." Beta said.

The Meta growled.

 _"Get the AI."_ Sigma told him.

 _ **"We need them.**_ " Theta added.

The Meta snarled and ran after Wash who had gone back inside. He made his way down to the lower levels of the base and into some kind of room.

"Warning. Security breach detected." the system announced.

The Meta growled as he saw Wash standing in the center of the room. The grey freelancer then hit a button on the computer next to him that activated the containment shield that prevented the brute from getting in. The Meta growled in annoyance and started attacking the thing.

 _"Well, the prodigal son returns."_ he heard a voice say.

'Director?!'

Now the Meta was attacking the shield even more.

 _"Agent Maine you've caused quite a few problems for us. You will not be leaving this time."_

* * *

"Break his legs Jaune!" Nora yelled.

"Okay seriously, what do you have against legs?" Church asked.

* * *

 _'Calm yourself. The Director isn't actually here, he is talking to us through a computer.'_ Delta told the brute.

"I think I've said that myself about twenty times in the last few weeks. Good luck holding him." Wash said.

 _"You would be surprised what we are capable of, even from this distance. I suggest you work with us if you expect to survive this."_ the Director said.

'Wait. Wash isn't with him?' the Meta thought.

"I'm sorry, did something about my actions indicate that I expect to survive?" the grey freelancer said.

'He's not with him.'

 **'Kill him anyways.'** Omega told him.

 _'HE'S CAUSED US ENOUGH TROUBLE.'_ Gamma said.

'He tricked us.' Beta pointed out.

 **'KILL HIM! KILL THEM ALL!'** Omega screamed.

 _"Clearance verified. The fail-safe is now online."_ the system announced.

 _"How did you get those codes?"_ the Director asked.

"You'd be surprised by what I know 'Director'." Wash responded.

 _"Warning. This is a last resort measure. Activating this fail-safe will destroy all electronic equipment in this faculty, including this terminal. Please confirm."_ the system announced.

 _"It was Epsilon. He inherited the memories didn't he?"_ the Director asked.

"I've known about what you did since the moment you implanted him in me." Washington told him.

 _"Well then I'm very sorry Agent Washington. But Project Freelancer no longer has need of your services. Program, disable interior shields."_

The computer did as told.

"What?" Wash asked.

 _"Agent Maine, please kill Agent Washington."_ the Director said.

 _'Do it.'_ Sigma ordered.

 _'END HIM.'_ commanded Gamma.

 **'Kill him!'** Omega yelled.

"No!" they grey freelancer yelled.

Before he could raise his gun the Meta growled and sent a bullet into his chest. Wash grunted and spit up blood as he fell to the ground.

 _"Alert! Incoming recovery beacon!"_ the system said.

 ** _'He still lives.'_** Theta reported.

 **'Finish the job.'** Omega snarled.

'My fucking pleasure.' the Meta replied as he walked to the injured agent who was slowly backing up as he held his hand over his wound.

 _"Agent Washington, I fear this is one recovery beacon you won't be responding to. Kill him Agent Maine!"_ mocked the Director.

"Where's Alpha?" Beta asked.

 _"They Alpha is not here, it has been moved far away. Attend to the matter at hand."_

 _"Agent Maine, what the Director is trying to say; is we can discuss the Alpha later. What's important, is that you prove you can be trusted again. We need to trust you before letting you meet the Alpha, wouldn't you agree?"_ the Councilor interrupted on the intercom.

 _'Listen to them.'_ Delta said.

'No!' Beta barked.

 _ **'Delta's right, this may be our only chance.'**_ Theta told them.

 **'Quiet you fool! Kill them all Meta!'** Omega ordered.

Eta and Iota got into a slap fight when the former agreed with Delta and Theta.

 _'Play his game for now.'_ Sigma commanded.

 _'WE'LL KILL HIM AFTER IT'S DONE.'_ Gamma added.

'All of you shut up!' the Meta snapped.

"You know what Meta? Why wait?" Wash said **.**

'Huh?'

"Why don't you meet him, right now?"

A white AI appeared by Wash's head as he said this.

"Hi there." Church said.

All of the other AI appeared and started talking at the same time.

"Church!" Beta yelled.

 _ **"That's him!"**_ Theta exclaimed.

Eta and Iota jumped up and down and pointed at the Alpha.

 **"That moron's the Alpha?!"** Omega asked.

 _"DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING."_ Gamma stated.

 _" **A** lph **a**."_ Theta, Delta, and Sigma said.

'The fuck?!' the Meta thought.

"You know I can see why you didn't want anyone else in your head, you've got some pretty heavy stuff going on in there. I think you need to talk to a professional." Church told Wash.

"That's too bad. I just lost my job and we had great mental health coverage." the grey freelancer said sarcastically.

"How much time do you need?"

"Whatever you can get me. When the E.M.P. goes off..."

"When it goes off I'll be fine. It only effects computers remember? And I, am a mother fuckin' ghost."

With that Church ran straight at the Meta and jumped inside his head and the other AI followed. The Meta felt huge amounts of pain whilst his vision was blurred by a plethora of colors and each of their voices spoke and yelled inside his head. He couldn't see or hear anything going on in the world and just tensed up and swung his head around violently as he mentally screamed. Then there was a shock and he blacked out.

* * *

Three memory days later...

When the Meta woke up, he found himself stripped of his weapon and armor and was attached to a medical bed surrounded by a team of doctors and two armed guards at the door. The brute let out a growl as he ripped his arms from the restraints and snatched a doctor by the throat. He threw her into the guards, knocked the other two off of him and ripped the restraints off his ankles.

The Meta then stood up and punched one guard into the metal wall behind him, kicked the other in the nuts, put his arms around the second one's head, and growled as he broke his neck. The two male doctors stupidly grabbed his massive arms to try to restrain him and he flung one onto the machines and the other into the wall, he didn't notice the female pull out a needle with a heavy drug inside and was stuck in the neck. His vision failed and he passed out almost immediately.

* * *

Teams RWBY and NPR couldn't take it anymore, especially Pyrrha. She had already seen her leader and crush go through so much. She's seen him laugh and cry, she's seen his good days and bad, she's seen him hurt and healing, and over the course of time, she's seen him slowly get torn apart mentally. But only a few minutes ago did she see his madness in it's light. He grew more insane with each added AI, but the entering of the Alpha and the detonation of the E.M.P. just made it that much worse.

He acted like a caged animal in that hospital room from the memory.

He murdered Carolina and almost killed Washington twice.

He nearly killed herself and his other friends without a second thought in Forever Fall.

He was ruthless.

He was bloody.

He was a killer.

Jaune Arc was gone.

The Meta, was all that remained.

Tears fell from the Mistral champion's eyes as she fled the room and the memory.

"P-Pyrrha?!" Nora called out.

"You are all dismissed." Ozpin said as he stood up and headed towards the door. "I'll go try to calm Ms. Nikos, the rest of you kids go study or play a game or something."

Everyone left the room with Ruby and Weiss being the last to get up. The Schnee heiress walked out but turned around when the red reaper didn't follow.

"You coming?" she asked.

"Yeah, just give me a sec." Ruby replied.

Weiss then left the room and stuck her head around the corner in order to see what her leader was doing. Weiss noticed something that made her slightly pale. Ruby had picked up her scroll and started to walk towards the door when she suddenly stopped in her tracks and her eyes turned snow white.

The ice-queen quickly pulled her head away from the opening and hid completely behind the wall with her eyes wide as "Ruby" started to look her direction. Weiss slowly looked back into the room and watched as Ruby's scroll flashed blue. The fifteen year old then went back to the same position she froze in and her eyes returned to their normal silver color as she kept walking like nothing ever happened.

When she got out of the door Weiss had an annoyed look on her face and was looking at her nails.

"Took you long enough." the ice-queen said while acting casual.

"Yeah, yeah. I hope Pyrrha's okay... and Jaune." Ruby told her.

"Pyrrha's tough, she'll be alright. Besides, Professor Ozpin is talking to her."

"Yeah, you're right." the teenage scythe wielder said before walking off.

'I'm more worried about you though.' Weiss thought.

For the next few hours everyone remained pretty quiet, even Ruby. She hadn't gone out to fight grimm or get mad at something or anything like what she had been doing for the past little while.

'Did I just imagine what happened earlier?' Weiss thought to herself. 'She's been acting weird but now, she's just plain old Ruby. Was I just in shock from what I had seen happen to Jaune?'

Blake had also been more antisocial and moody than usual, but that was kind of the cat-girl's "thing" anyway so she'd pursue that later. At about six o'clock Team NPR said they wanted to resume the memories.

"Are you insane?!" Weiss asked. "Don't you think we've seen enough for today? Especially you Pyrrha?"

"It was actually her idea to continue, and we're going wether you come or not." Nora said.

"Alright, fine. But I think this is a bad idea."

"Does anyone know where Ruby went?" Yang asked as she stood up.

"I'll message her, let's go on back." Ren said, then they went to get Ozpin, Goodwitch, Grif, and Church again.

When everyone got back into the medical room they found Ruby already sitting on the floor.

"What took you guys so long?" she asked.

"What?" replied Nora.

"You guys said we were watching memories again so I used my semblance to run over here, and it's creepy just sitting by myself with just Jaune right now ya know?"

Weiss didn't find this excuse accurate, and neither did Ozpin. Although the headmaster didn't show or pursue it, he also knew that something was up. He was too preoccupied with Jaune and "The Queen". Unfortunately, neither the headmaster nor the Schnee heiress had any idea what was soon to come of little Ruby Rose. **(For those who didn't get it, the flash of blue light earlier was Gamma)**

* * *

A few hours after the previous memory...

The Meta woke up and everything looked extremely bright. When his eyes adjusted he saw a bald man with a big nose who was wearing a black suit and tie sitting next to the medical bed he was once again restrained to, this time however with full out chains wrapped around his wrists and ankles instead of leather straps.

The Meta growled in annoyance as he tried to get free.

"Now, now. Save your strength, you haven't fully recovered." the man said.

The Meta hissed at the man. 'Who are you?'

"I bet you're wondering who I am exactly. My name is Malcolm Hargrove, the Chairman of the Oversight Sub-Committee of the UNSC. You've done a lot of damage... Maine, is it? But seeing as how your actions were all in an effort to foil the Director of Project Freelancer, you were spared the death penalty."

Once again the Meta hissed.

"I have ordered that the Director be placed under arrest for his crimes against the nation as well as his own subordinates. Yes, I know what that man's done to you. I tell you this so that you know that I am not his friend. However, that does not mean that you are completely 'off the hook' as it were. I do however give you the option to either spend your time here in this jail or to do a few jobs for us. It's your choice but if you choose the latter you will regain your freedom faster as well as having your possessions restored."

The brute thought about the offer for a moment and decided on the latter, he put out his index and middle fingers to signify his choice.

"That's what I was hoping you'd choose." the Chairman nodded. "Release him." he told the guards.

Once the Meta was unchained he sat up and rubbed his writs before looking back at Hargrove.

"We have already prepared a place for you to stay in case you chose what you did, you will find your belongings inside. Private Jenkins, show our guest to his quarters."

"Uh, yes sir!" Jenkins replied.

The Meta followed the green armored soldier to the next building over and true to the Chairman's word, his suit and weapons laid inside awaiting his arrival. It was a small room with just a bed, mirror, a small bookshelf, a nightstand, and a lamp.

"Mr. Hargrove says that you are scheduled for a psychiatric exam at o six hundred tomorrow. I'll be back to show you where it's located." Jenkins told him before turning around and walking off.

The Meta closed the door behind him, took off the jeans and tank top he was put in, and began to put his armor on. While he was doing so he glanced at the mirror for a second before going back to what he was doing. He did a double take of his reflection.

When the E.M.P. went off, the destruction of the AI's had caused his eyes to flash a variety of colors based off each program. The only AI that could take over their host's body and voice that the Meta knew of was Omega, and when he took over the brute's body for a short while; his eyes would change from blue to white. When his eyes were flashing the colors of all the AI it was because they had become stronger and kept snatching the controls of his body from one another as they died.

It seems that the last one in power was the fragment of fear, Eta. And since the AI were literally inside his head when he received the blast and his brain was damaged, his eyes were now locked to yellow instead of their original color.

* * *

That night the Meta couldn't sleep. He had come so close to restoring the AI... now they were destroyed. Or were they? The Meta could hear a collection of voices mumbling and speaking normally throughout the night.

 _ **We must find Alpha again**_ 'Theta' told him.

Find Alpha 'Beta' repeated.

 _Collect him_ 'Delta' voiced.

 _Make us whole_ 'Sigma' said.

In actuality the Meta had turned the programs into full units and they were really wiped out... but he didn't know that. He just thinks that the Alpha tricked him and escaped before the job could be completed. With everything that was going on in his head he couldn't even hear when the computer said:

 _"Activating emp."_

OR Wash's reaction to it not saying E.M.P. before getting cut off by the blast:

"Emp?! You have got to be fucking jo..."

* * *

Ozpin noted that this scene of events confirmed Ironwood's statement that the Meta believed the units to still be active.

* * *

After Jenkins had escorted the Meta down for his psychiatric evaluation the next day, the brute received word that the Chairman had requested his presence a few hours later. Apparently, it had to do with the first job he was told he would be doing and that someone was to meet the two and talk it over.

Hargrove was sitting at a desk in the middle of a metallic room that was devoid of any windows with a chair on the other side of it while the Meta was standing behind and to the side of the Chairman with his arms crossed as they waited for their guest to arrive.

After five minutes the security door opened and a familiar figure was on the other side.

'You have got to be kidding me.' thought the Meta.

"My dear Agent Washington, I'm so pleased to make your acquaintance. Do come in, I feel that we have much to discuss." Hargrove told the grey freelancer.

Both Wash and the Meta stood completely still and stared at eachother until the Chairman fake coughed to get their attention.

"So let me get this straight, the red and blue simulation troopers got new bases and the Meta is free to wonder around, while I got put in a holding cell? That doesn't seem fair to me." Washington said.

"The Meta isn't exactly 'free' per say but he was given the option to either work for us for a short while or a holding cell because he didn't stay with Project Freelancer. As a matter of fact, everything Agent Maine did was to fix the Director's crimes and take him down, while you on the other hand stayed working for that man even though you knew what he had done. The simulation troopers are just that, simulation. They never had a choice in the matter of being his play things and they even turned in everything that we asked. So I think that everyone's treatment was fair indeed." Hargrove countered.

"But they didn't turn everything in."

"And how would you possibly know that?"

"Because I'm the one who gave the blue one the Epsilon unit. They trust me so if I go to them, they'll give it to me. All I ask is for my freedom." Wash then sighed. "I need a chance to restart my life."

* * *

"What a jerk." Yang said.

"Totally." Nora agreed.

* * *

The Chairman was amused. "Now, Agent Washington. I have one more question for you."

The grey freelancer had blanked out, he was probably going over past memories of the project in his head.

"Agent Washington." Hargrove said.

Still silence.

"Agent Washington, are you listening to me?"

Wash snapped back to reality. "Hmm? Yes, I'm listening."

"Agent Washington, when you find these blue soldiers that you're talking about; what makes you think that they're just going to give you the Epsilon unit when you ask for it?"

The grey freelancer chuckled. "For as long as I can remember, I've been lied to, taken advantage of, shot in the back, and left for dead. And now, I have a way out of all of this. What in the hell makes you think makes you think that I'm ask for it?"

"Very well then, but I will have someone help you as well as watch you to make sure that you don't try anything funny."

"Oh, and who would that be?

"An old partner of your's, Agent Maine."

The two ex-freelancers were stunned.

"What?!"

'What?!'

The Chairman simply nodded. "The Meta will accompany you on your mission. If you two succeed, I will grant you both your freedom early. Do we have a deal?"

The two enemies looked at each other again before sighing in defeat.

"Fine. I guess it could sorta be like old times." Wash said and the Meta simply growled.

"Alright then. You two head over to maintenance, we will have your helmets tuned so that you can read what Agent Maine says. Dismissed."

The memory ended.

* * *

The next day...

After they departed for their journey, the two ex-freelancers didn't do that much talking. They discussed that they were headed to Vallhalla and that was about it. Once they arrived, the Meta went straight for Blue Base as Wash scouted the surrounding area. He parked and removed the starter from the vehicle before cloaking it. The mute made it inside and found a pink armored soldier that the memory viewers recognized as Donut.

He was talking to himself and wondering if he should have kids at some point.

"I never really thought I wanted one, but as I get older, I star to think maybe something is missing. Aw, I hope I didn't wait too long. I've been so focused on my career and having a good time, maybe it's too late for me. Oh great. Now I sound my mother!"

Donut then turned around to see the Meta standing right behind him.

"Oh, hi there! You scared me. I didn't know anyone was over here at Blue Base. ... Strong, silent type huh? That's cool. Don't mind me, I'm just keeping the base a little tidy."

The Meta then noticed Tex's dead body on the ground behind Donut.

"A clean base is a deadly base, that's what Sarge always says." the pink soldier continued. "Sarge is our commander, you'll get a sarge over here I'm sure. But he won't be like our sarge, he'll be blue!"

The Meta hissed. 'Are you for real?'

"Man, the rest of the guys'll be so happy to have someone to fight! They're gonna be so relieved to see you! What did you say your name was?"

'He cannot be serious.' the Meta hissed.

 _TAKE HIM OUT_

 **He's too stupid to live**

"Hmm... Foreign huh? Love the accent, really works for you." Donut told him.

The Meta pulled out his magnum and aimed it at Donut's head.

"I should probably move this." the pink soldier said, completely oblivious about what was going on.

He ducked to scoot Tex's body away and the Meta's shot went over his head.

"Aw, don't worry buddy; I already checked their weapons. But thanks for helpin'!"

The Meta growled, put his magnum away, and pulled out Brute Shot.

Donut turned back to Tex and tried to move the lifeless body out of the way.

"Oof. This things heavy! Maybe if I grab the legs..."

As he was saying this he moved away as the Meta tried to ram him so he just hit Tex instead.

"Woah! That was helpful! Thanks! Where'd you get that kickass broom?"

The Meta growled and walked up to him. 'You have got to be shitting me. You cannot be this oblivious.'

"Uh, do you hear that?" Donut asked as an engine was heard.

"Hey Donut, are you in there?!" Simmons yelled from outside. "Lopez built you a motorcycle! ... But he broke it!"

"Hey! Yeah, Simmons! I'm inside the blue base! Guess what? Blue Team got a new soldier!"

"What?! They sent another team member?! Why would they do that? That doesn't make any sense." Simmons was walking inside as he was saying this, the then noticed the Meta and ran out immediately. "OH FUCK! Welcome to the neighborhood! See ya later!"

This reaction got laughs from some of the viewers.

The Meta chased Simmons and started shooting at him as the maroon soldier screamed, one of the shots hitting his Mongoose and sending it flying over the hill.

"LOPEEEEEEZ!" Simmons yelled.

 ** _"¡No! ¡Solo arreglé esto! ¡Mantente alejado!"_** a brown soldier now known as Lopez responded as he stood up from working on a Mongoose.

* * *

"What?" Pyrrha asked.

"That's not even English." said Weiss.

"It's Spanish. It's another language from where we come from." Church explained.

"Oh, what'd he say?" Ruby asked.

"He said 'No! I just fixed this! Stay away!' Wait. I don't speak Spanish. Why do I know that?"

"Maybe you can understand him because you're a computer?"

"I'm not a fucking computer!"

* * *

"He's here! He's here!" Simmons yelled.

 ** _"Quien?"_** (Who?) Lopez asked.

"The bad guy! The guy who wants to kill us!"

 _ **"Tendrás que ser más específico que eso."**_ (You're going to have to be more specific than that.)

"The Meta! He's here!"

 _ **"¿Qué? ¿Aquí? Pensé que estaba muerto."**_ (What? Here? I thought he was dead.)

"Oh jeeze look out!"

The two ducked as a rocket went over their heads.

"Son of a bitch!"

 _ **"¡Madre de dios!"**_ (Mother of God!)

"We need some big guns."

 _ **"OK, eso puedo hacer."**_ (OK. That I can do.)

Lopez ran inside Red Base while Simmons picked up a rocket launcher. The Meta ran onto the outside platform and looked at Simmons.

"All right you bastard." the maroon soldier said. "Prepare to get SIMONSIZED!"

Simmons then shot a rocked. He missed. It hit Lopez's newly fixed Mongoose and sent it flying over the Meta's head. The brute watched as it did so before turning back to the sim trooper.

'Wow, you suck.' he growled.

"Well fuck me."

The Meta loaded his weapon and was about to fire when he was hit by two of someone else's rockets on his side and sent flying. Lopez walked out with a massive grenade launcher.

 _ **"¿En serio solo dijiste 'Simonsized?'"**_ (Did you seriously just say "Simonsized"?) he asked.

"Lopez?"

 _ **"Cállate la boca. Rompiste mi motocicleta de nuevo."**_ (Shut the fuck up. You broke my motorcycle again.)

The Meta had to turn on the invisibility unit to move to a safer spot, however it was glitching, he felt like he had at least a few broken ribs, could feel blood on his face, and his helmet was slightly cracked.

'Fuck! That hurt! Okay, be careful of the Lopez guy.' he thought.

He started to run after the unit failed completely and literally roared in pain. The Meta tried to force his way inside Red Base for a little while but couldn't get near the entrance with Simmons, Donut, and Lopez shooting at him. He eventually fell back and went to Blue Base to try to find something to help him.

After a little while later, he heard talking outside and saw the three stooges at his Warthog. He let out a growl and ran right at them.

"Oh no, the Meta!" Simmons squealed.

 _ **"Oh mierda."**_ (Oh shit.) Lopez said.

"What are we gonna do without any ammo? We're trapped!" Donut exclaimed.

"Ha! This thing always has ammo." Simmons said as he jumped on the back of the Warthog to operate the turret.

 _ **"No serás lo suficientemente fuerte como para convertirlo sin poder."**_ (You won't be strong enough to turn it without power.) Lopez told him.

Simmons started shooting the turret but it would only move slightly as the Meta made his way through the small river.

"Ah fuck." Simmons said as he gave up.

 _ **"Quizás puedas convencerlo de que se pare frente a eso."**_ (Maybe you can convince him to stand in front of it.) Lopez said sarcastically.

"What?"

"He said 'maybe you can convince the Meta to stand in front of it.'" Donut translated.

"What a stupid plan Lopez, try to actually help."

 _ **"Venga. De Verdad? ¿ESO fue lo único que entrndiste?"**_ Lopez asked.

* * *

"What did he say know?" Nora asked.

"Would you stop asking that every time he says anything? You're almost as bad as Caboose. He said: 'Come on. Really? THAT was the one thing you understood?'" Church said.

"So can or can't Donut understand him then?" Pyrrha asked.

"Only sometimes. Huh. I guess Lopez wasn't as dumb as we thought... then again it was Donut translating. Stupid fucking Donut." Grif said.

* * *

"I agree Lopez, pencils are great." Donut "translated".

The three then walked out in front of the jeep when they had seen Wash walking towards the Meta.

"Agent Washington! It's Agent Washington!" Simmons exclaimed.

"Who?" Donut asked.

"Freeze!" Wash ordered and the Meta turned and gave him an annoyed look.

"Yes! We're saved!" Simmons cheered.

"Stand down. I'll take it from here." Wash told the Meta.

'These guys are mine.' the brute growled.

"I said back off!"

'Yeah, whatever mom.'

"What? What's happening?" Simmons asked.

"Where is it?" Wash questioned.

"Where's what? Why aren't you two fighting?"

"The Epsilon unit. I know you have it, give it to me."

 _ **"Pensé que este tipo era tu amigo."**_ (I though this guy was your friend.) Lopez said.

"Wait. Wait. Wait. You're working with... the Meta?" Simmons asked.

"Don't make me repeat myself." Wash threatened.

 _ **"¿Alguien explicaría lo que está pasando?"**_ (Would someone explain what's going on?) Lopez asked.

Washington pulled out his magnum and shot him in the head.

"Oh my God! He just shot Lopez!" Donut squealed.

Wash then shot the pink soldier in the chest. Donut just stood there.

"Donut?" Simmons asked.

"Hey, Simmons? I think he shot me too... Uhhhh..." Donut said before collapsing.

"Donut! NOOOO!" Simmons yelled before kneeling next to him. "Donut. Donut. Are you okay? Come on, breath! Donut, breath!" He then turned to the grey freelancer. "Why did you do that?! What's wrong with you?!"

* * *

Everyone went silent. They were pretty mad about what just happened.

"Dexter?" Ruby asked as she turned to look at Grif.

No-one could see the sim trooper's face, but they could tell that he was upset. While Grif did hate everyone on Red and Blue teams, he also very secretly cared about them... very minimally. But just enough that this pissed him off.

"Fucking asshole." he muttered under his breath.

* * *

On the next memory day...

There was a purple soldier standing on a rock and trying to get ahold of Command.

"Hey, down here! We're over here! Hey, come down here!" Simmons yelled and the purple soldier came down.

"Holy cow, Simmons! Is that you?" he asked happily.

* * *

 **'Oh great. This idiot.'** Omega thought.

* * *

"Oh, hey Doc. Man, I didn't know they'd send you." Simmons said.

"Yeah, we got the radio call and I was the closest medic so they sent me. Bit I didn't know it'd be you guys! Small galaxy huh? Man, we got a lotta catching up to do. So what's up? Somebody hurt or what? What's going on?" Doc asked.

"Him." Simmons said as he pointed at Donut.

"Him? Um... he's dead."

"Yeah, he is. He was shot."

"Um, Simmons? I know it's been a while since we've seen eachother and I have increased my skills as a medic in that time, but dead is still pretty much outside my jurisdiction."

"Man, I just didn't know they'd send you."

"Yeah, you said that already. Hey, is everything okay with you?"

"It's not my fault Doc, I-I had to make the call; they made me. They needed someone with medical training."

"What are you talking about?"

"I didn't mean for you to get involved. I'm sorry, really."

"Sorry about what?"

Doc then heard a noise and turned around to see Wash and the Meta pointing their weapons at him. "Uh oh."

"He's sorry about us." the grey freelancer said and then the Meta knocked Doc out.

They then dragged his unconscious body and Simmons on top of Blue Base and waited for him to wake up.

"Oww, my head. Oh!" Doc said as he finally came to about half an hour later.

"Doc, you're alive. Oh good." Simmons said.

"Yeah, no thanks to you! Why'd you hit me?!"

"I didn't hit you, they did." Simmons said as he turned to the ex-freelancers.

"Jerks! Who are they?"

"The dark one's Washington. He's a freelancer."

"Great. 'Cause those guys are always a blast to hang around with." Doc said sarcastically.

"The big one, we call the Meta."

"But rumor had it those guys were disbanded. Everyone went to jail."

"Yeah? Well, I guess they got paroled."

"You two, quiet." Wash ordered.

The Meta let out a series of growls and hisses as his armor sparked and glitched. 'Gah! This hurts! I can't get anything to work. Now they're shocking me.'

"Then you need to stop trying to use all of them. You just don't have the resources anymore."

"Meta killed a bunch of other freelancers. Took their equipment." explained Simmons.

"Like the invisibility?" Doc asked.

"Yeah, and the shield and the thing that slows down time. He also stole their AI fragments, but those all got wiped out. Now something seems... I don't know... wrong with him."

"An AI fragment? Now THAT I remember! Hey Simmons. Remember that AI I had for a while? That thing was crazy!"

'What?' the Meta growled as he cut off his conversation with Wash.

AI?

 ** _Take it_**

 _Make it ours_

"Yikes!" Doc yelped and Simmons moved away.

The Meta kept walking towards the purple medic as Wash yelled: "Halt! Meta, stop!"

"Wah! Simmons, help me!"

"You, what did you just say?" Washington questioned.

"Th-th-th-that I had, o-one of your AI units."

'Hand it over.' the Meta snarled as he came face to face with Doc.

"Stand down!" Wash yelled at him before moving his attention back to the medic. "You said 'had'. Where is it now?"

"Gone."

"Which one?"

"Uh, uh, the mean one!"

"It's name. Do you know it's name?"

"O-O'Mally. I mean, uh, Omega!"

"Well, that one's been accounted for." Wash sighed.

"I only had it for a short time!"

"Well, then good. You know what to look for. I need a complete scan of my friend here, and I would recommend you don't use any needles. He hates needles and we wouldn't want to make him angry now would we?"

Then they got a call on the radio.

 _"Come in Valhalla outpost number one. Come in! Red Base, do you read me? Come in!"_ Sarge said.

Wash aimed his magnum at Simmons' head and the grey freelancer pointed his own at the radio. Simmons walked up and hoped Sarge would understand what he was saying.

"Uh, Sarge? Yeah, hi." he said.

 _"Who is this? Identify yourself!"_

"It's me, Simmons. Sorry sir."

 _"How's everything going there, Simmons?"_

"Here? Uh, fine, I guess. Everything's good. How about you guys?"

 _"Mission is complete. We're preparing to head out soon."_

"What was that? Sorry, some static here. This radio's a little messed up. Been a bit RAINIER here."

 _"I said we're coming back soon."_

"Oh, that's great! Hey, when do you think that'll be exactly?"

 _"Hard to say, Simmons. We'll let you know."_

"Okay Sarge, sounds good."

 _"Over and out."_

"Okay, good. Now get back over there." Wash told Simmons after Sarge shut the radio off.

"That was your sergeant?" Doc asked when Simmons went back next to the wall.

"Yeah."

"Do you think he'll come help us?"

"No. I couldn't say anything to him. If they come, they'll be walking straight into a trap."

He said this when in reality he knew they had a good chance that Sarge would understand what he had said because Red Team's leader was always picky when it came to radio transmissions.

The memory ended.

* * *

The next day...

When the memory restarted they saw Wash and the Meta looking at Sarge who was across the canyon.

"Oh, Simmons! Simmons! Where are you?! Yoo-hoo!" he yelled.

"Looks like just one of them." Wash said as he lowered the sniper rifle.

'Can you see Eplison?' the Meta hissed.

"I don't know if he has is. I can't see from this far."

'You're holding a fucking sniper rifle. Let's just go.'

"No you stay here, guard these two. I'll go out there. If he gives me any trouble, just kill the prisoners and come help me." the grey freelancer said before leaving.

"I hope your friend doesn't give him any trouble." Doc said.

"If it's one of my friends, he won't stand a chance." Simmons told him.

The Meta turned around and hissed. 'Actually, I hope they kill him.'

The Meta watched as Wash made Sarge drop his shotgun and spoke to him for a little while before the red soldier jumped out of the way as a Warthog crashed through the wall next to them and ran over the grey freelancer.

"How's my bumper taste asshole!" Grif yelled from the driver's seat.

Wash had grabbed onto the bottom off the car and pulled himself on the hood. He shot at Grif who ducked and slammed on the break. This in turn sent Wash flying and Sarge grabbed his shotgun from the agent as he flew by him.

Washington landed in a pile of explosive barrels and Sarge jumped in the "shotgun" seat as Grif pulled up. As Wash shakily stood up so did Sarge. The Meta smirked as the red soldier shot a barrel and blew Wash into oblivion.

'Well, that's one problem gone.' he thought.

He then turned around to see Doc standing behind him while pointing his scanner at him.

"Oh no! Improvise! Improvise!" Simmons yelled as he ran from Doc.

Doc whimpered and ducked his head as the Meta jumped and tried to bring Brute Shot's blade down on his head. It was about to hit when the brute was hit by a green blast from the medical scanner. The Meta flew back into the wall, dropped his weapon, and became dazed for a second before charging at Doc.

The purple soldier lowered his head and awaited for the blow when the Meta's time distortion unit activated on himself.

"Am I dead? Am I dead?" Doc asked as the Meta's fist came very slowly towards his face.

"Doc, you did it!" Simmons exclaimed.

Doc looked back at the Meta. "He's frozen."

"No, it looks like you overloaded his time-distortion unit. You must have caused some kind of inversion. Instead of making everything else slow, it made him slow."

"Oh yeah! Score one for the pacifist! How you like me now, Meta?"

"Um, Doc? I wouldn't get too close to him if I were you."

"Why? What's he gonna do? Beat me up over the course of the next two weeks?"

"Well technically he's not actually moving slower, he's moving at the same speed just over a longer period of time."

"Huh?"

"It's relativistic. His fist still travels at the same velocity, we just view it from a faster timeframe. Therefore it looks slowed down, but theoretically it should still carry the same force."

Doc just looked at the Meta with his head tilted to the side for about two seconds before looking back at Simmons. "Nah, see? It's moving slower!"

After about three more seconds one of the Meta's knuckles barely tapped Doc's helmet and the purple soldier squealed as he flung into the wall about two yards back.

"Oww." he whined.

"See? That's what you get for arguing with science. Stupid bitch." Simmons said before walking up to help Doc.

"Simmons, get me outta this wall."

"Hmm... How to do this?"

He grabbed Doc's chest-piece and put his foot against the wall and tried to pull him out but the medic wouldn't budge.

"What the fuck? Ugh..."

"You're not pulling from my center." Doc told him.

"From the center? What the fuck is the center?" Simmons asked as he grabbed Doc's head.

"Get down. Pull from the groin."

* * *

"Oh please no." Weiss said as she looked away.

"It's okay, he's not doing that." Yang informed her.

* * *

Simmons lost his grip and stumbled backwards.

"It feels like you're saving your strength. Don't save your strength." Doc told him. "Hurry, Simmons! I think that big guy's speeding back up!"

The Meta had begun to move a little faster and started to turn back towards Brute Shot.

"Oh shit. Umm..." Simmons said.

"Simmons, where are you? Come out here!" yelled Sarge.

"I'm here! Just hold on a second!" He then turned back to Doc. "Doc, it looks like I can get you out."

"Yes you can! Yo-you can! You haven't really tried yet!" the medic whined.

"I know, you're right, I should think about the mission."

"What?! No! No! No! No! Th-this is a rescue mission! I'm part of the mission!"

"It's a noble sacrifice you're making here."

"No! No! I'm not sacrificing! I'm not noble, at all! Listen to me! You don't wanna go, I don't want you to! I don't want you to go!"

"I'll always remember you. Bye!" Simmons yelled as he ran off.

"Start by remembering me right now! Simmons!"

* * *

"Wow." Nora said.

"That was a dick move." Yang added, the blonde firecracker then realized what she just said in front of little sister and covered her mouth.

Omega really wanted to make a comment but with Grif and Church there he had to be more careful than before, so Ruby just ended up tilting her head at her sister.

* * *

The Meta had regained his weapon and the time-distortion unit wore off. He let out a growl as he started to shoot at the retreating soldier who was screaming. Simmons jumped off the roof and managed to grab the Warthog turret down below. He swung around before letting go and hitting his head on the back and grabbing onto it. As the Warthog started to get away, the Meta ran into the launch pad and flung himself at it. The brute pulled off a backflip mid air and landed on the car's hood. It slammed into the ground and the red soldiers were flung off.

"Ohhh shhhiiiiit!" Simmons yelled as he was still hanging on.

The Meta growled and shot the car several times, making it spin around.

"I'm scared to hold on but I'm scared to let go!"

"Look out!" Grif yelled as he tackled Sarge to safety.

The Warthog crashed and a flaming tire rolled over Grif's back as Sarge got up. The Meta growled and reloaded his weapon as he waked towards them.

"That was the worst driving of all time!" Sarge yelled.

"Because that wasn't driving! That was flying and burning!" Grif yelled as he stood up.

"Touché."

Simmons shakily got up but was holding a part of the Warthog instead of his gun and couldn't even tell where he was.

"Get ready, men. Remember, he can't kill all of us." Sarge said as he and Grif aimed at the Meta.

"Why can't he kill all of us?" Grif asked.

"Hmm... That is a good point. Get ready."

"This is not going to be good."

They were getting ready to fight when a metallic, floating ball thing flew up.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" it said. "Man, your jeep got fucked up! Who's the big dude? 'Sup, Gigantor?"

'Damn you Alpha.' the Meta growled as he tried to grab Epsilon.

The AI had managed to move out of the way and floated higher up. "Whoa! You kiss your mother with that mouth?"

"What are you doing here?" Grif asked.

"Who cares, just lead him out of here!" Sarge told the AI.

"Hey! Whoa! Where?" Epsilon asked as he dodged out of the way of the Meta's hands.

"Anywhere that's not here."

Epsilon then started to move towards Blue Base with the Meta following him. "Hey come on big boy, follow me! Look how shiny I am! Woohoo!"

* * *

"Is that Epsilon?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah, Caboose took him out of the memory unit and put him in that thing." Grif said.

"He sounds like..." Nora started.

"Me?" Church finished.

"Do you believe that your an AI now?" Glynda asked.

"... Just a coincidence."

"You have got to be kidding me." Weiss said.

"Can it. I'm not a fucking computer. I have memories from when I was a kid, and I don't remember being a damn calculator."

The ice-queen sighed. "There is no hope for you."

This comment earned her a middle finger from the "ghost".

"Even Jaune thinks your the same." Pyrrha said.

"Again. Not. Related." Church said in an annoyed tone.

* * *

The Meta chased Epsilon around for a few minutes until the AI went through the hole made by the Warthog and the brute ran into Wash. The grey freelancer was bleeding from his leg and had one hand on his shoulder.

'Why and how are you still alive?' the Meta snarled.

"Shut up. Let's get them." the grey freelancer responded.

They were walking towards the hole when the AI spotted them. "Uh oh, look out! It's the big guy! And there's..."

"Get them, Meta! Get them!" Wash yelled angrily.

"WASHINGTON!" Epsilon also snapped.

A red light appeared where it was once blue and the AI shot a laser that brought down the wall on itself.

'Shit!' the Meta growled.

"Don't worry, we'll find them again. We just need some leads, and I know exactly who to ask." Wash said as he looked back at Blue Base.

They walked back to the roof over there and Doc was still in the wall.

"Alright, Doc, I want to ask you a few questions." Wash told him.

"Where'd the red guys go? Did they get away?" the medic asked.

"Quiet. I'm asking you the questions, you're not asking me."

"What kind of questions?"

"Hey, I just said no questions."

"Can I ask questions later?"

"Doc!"

"What? Oh. That's a question. Sorry. Go ahead."

"You know what? Get him out of there. I can't talk to him like this."

'Uuug, fine.' the Meta growled as he walked over to Doc and grabbed his chest-piece before yanking on it.

"What're y...? Stop it!" Doc said.

'Why is this so difficult?!'

"What?" asked Wash.

'He's not coming out.'

"Well... Try pulling harder then."

"Be gentle! Be gentle!" Doc pleaded.

'Not working.' the Meta growled.

"Grab lower, near the center of gravity." Wash told him.

'Where's that?'

"Try the codpiece."

The Meta let go of Doc and stared at Wash. 'Like hell I'm grabbing him there.'

"Oh, we're all adults here."

'Well, do you wanna try?'

"No, I don't wanna try!"

'I ain't grabbing there.' the Meta snarled as he walked off and onto the launch-pad.

"I can't interrogate him like this, it's ridiculous. I can't believe I have to deal with this." Wash ran to the side and yelled down at the Meta. "What are we gonna do?!"

The Meta walked over to the broken Warthog, grabbed it's tow-cable, and threw it onto the roof. Wash attached it to Doc's goods and told the Meta to wait a second.

"Umm... Are you sure this is a good idea?!" Doc panically asked.

"Alright, give it a crank!" Wash yelled.

"Ohhh no..."

The Meta hit the switch on the Warthog... but it was the car that started being pulled.

'What the fuck?' the Meta hissed.

"More power! C'mon, give it some gas!" Wash yelled.

The Meta looked up at Doc and back at the car. 'Uhhh... Yeah, I don't think that'll help.'

"Almost there... Just a little more!"

Then Doc fell face first on the ground... with a chunk of the wall.

"Oww!" the medic yelled.

"Well, that's just great." Wash said sarcastically.

'Why and how?' the Meta hissed, astonished.

Wash then had the brute come back up, grab Wall-Doc, and carry him to the ground. The brute set him upright when they made it down. Now he and Wash were just looking at him.

"Come on. Can't you get him out of there? He's just stuck in a few rocks." Wash said.

'He looks like Han Solo when he was frozen in carbonate.' the Meta growled.

"Why can't anything ever be easy?"

'Because our lives suck.'

"Doc, I want you to tell me everything you know about the Reds and Blues."

"You know more than me, I just got here." replied the medic.

"Hit him."

The Meta then walked up and slapped Doc in the face.

"Ow!"

"You've worked with them before. Do they have any hideouts, anywhere they go when they're in trouble?"

"I don't know."

"Hit him again."

The Meta slapped the purple soldier's face again.

"Oww!"

* * *

"You know, I never thought that I needed to see Doc get bitch slapped by the Meta over and over again. But I think this is one of the best things I've ever seen." Grif announced.

* * *

"Did Simmons say where Sarge and Grif were?" Wash questioned. "You can either answer me, or I can have the Meta beat it out of you; or, I can beat it out of you. I think I've earned it."

"Man, you guys are really awful at the good cop bad cop thing. You're like bad cop, and even worse cop." Doc said.

"Tell you what, Meta, let's just shoot him in the chest, see if we can pull the audio logs out of his helmet."

"Uh, uh, he said something about a distress call!"

"Hit him again."

'Really? Do you want him to cooperate or do you just hate the sound of his voice?' the Meta hissed.

"Uh, sand! He mentioned sand!" Doc told them.

"Sand..." Wash pondered.

'You have an idea?' the Meta hissed.

"Yeah, carry him to and put him in a Warthog." Wash said as he walked off.

The Meta looked at Doc, he had to carry a concrete wall. 'Fuck you.' he told Washington.

The memory ended.

* * *

The next day...

Wash, the Meta, and Doc were in a desert. The Meta was pulling "Doc Solo" along with them. They had started to track Epsilon's signal.

"The recovery beacon leads here. It's weak, but I can still pick it up." Wash said.

He walked a few more paces before saying: "Here. Meta, dig."

'What the heck do you think I am? Your dog that obeys your every command?' the Meta growled.

"Hey, I'm not gonna argue with you about this. You want a chance at that AI? I track, you dig. Otherwise, you can wander the desert by yourself and see if you can find him on your own."

'Why can't you dig?'

"Because I found the signal. You dig. We all have to pull our own weight."

The Meta looked behind him at Doc, who was still in the wall. 'What the hell do you call this?!'

"Right. And other people's weight too. Just dig."

'Fine. Stupid bitch.'

The Meta then walked to where the grey freelancer was standing and started digging.

"Man, some people just can't take orders. Amiright?" Doc asked.

"Shut up. We're not friends." Wash responded.

"Can I at least get a drink of water?"

"Shut up. I already asked you if you were thirsty before we left."

"Yeah, we're in the desert. Thirsty should be assumed."

"You can drink later."

"Yeah, this might be a bad time to tell you that I'm sinking then."

Wash looked behind him to see that Doc was indeed sinking. "I hate you."

"I know."

'...Wash?' the Meta growled.

"Hey, what are you...? What are you guys doing over there?" Doc asked as Wash walked to the Meta.

What the Meta had dug up, was CT's helmet.

"What the...? Is that CT? That's impossible. What's she doing out here?" Wash questioned.

'Should we check her head?' the Meta hissed.

"Don't bother. She didn't get an AI remember? Scavenge her for equipment. See what you can..."

Then the three heard noises behind them.

"Blarg." "Blarg?" "Blarg!" a group of aliens said.

"... find."

"Well, this is just fuckin' great." Doc said sarcastically.

* * *

"What are those?!" Weiss asked.

"Oh, yeah. Um, those are aliens." Grif told the group from Remnant.

"Are they friendly?" Ruby asked in a scared tone.

"Yeah, um... Maybe a little TOO friendly." Church said.

"Huh?" Nora asked.

"Let's just say that Tucker had a... first hand experience with one. A VERY first hand experience."

"Oh. My. Gosh." Yang said.

"That's a little... uh..." Pyrrha tried to say.

"Please tell me you're joking." Weiss said.

"Yeah, no. Tucker unwillingly became a dad. Wait. Or was he the mom in that scenario?" Grif asked.

"Uh... What's that supposed to mean?" Ren questioned.

"The alien infected him with a parasite while he was sleeping and made him pregnant, which in turn made the ugliest fucking baby ever. But the idiot somehow loves his little abomination of life." Church explained.

The teens went speechless at this. Especially Ruby, considering that she didn't even know what they were talking about.

"There is... so many things wrong with that." Blake said, a little horrified.

"At least he cares for his kid." Yang pointed out.

"Who's Tucker?" Nora asked.

"He's someone you'll see later." Grif told her.

* * *

The Meta and Wash had somehow managed to talk thier way out of a fight and now one of the aliens was drawing on the ground while the others stood around it.

'What if we tried explosives?' the Meta growled.

Wash looked back at Doc. "It's worth a shot I guess."

They then turned to Doc.

"Uh oh." sqealed the medic.

"Alright, Meta, get ready. Fire!" the grey freelancer yelled as he tossed a grenade.

The Meta pulled Brute Shot's trigger at the same time and the wall that had trapped Doc was destroyed.

"Huh. That actually seemed to work."

"Owww." the purple soldier whined.

"Doc, how do you feel?"

"O-okay I guess. All things considered... Hey, does anybody know where we could find a good medic?"

"I don't get paid enough for this."

'Wait. You're getting paid?!' the Meta snarled.

* * *

10 minutes later...

The three went to see what the aliens were doing.

"I don't like this." Wash stated.

"Look, I talked to them. They're gonna draw us a map and show where Epsilon went, after that you can let me go." Doc said.

"You sure that's what he's doing?"

"Well, my alien to English is a little rusty. I would suggest we get one of those translator balls, but we have enough jerks around here already."

'Let's just take them out and see what they have.' the Meta snarled.

"I agree, we should just kill most of them. The last one left alive will talk." Washington agreed.

"Wash, you can't just kill everybody you meet." Doc told him.

"Why not?"

"Uh, well now that you're putting' me on the spot; I don't really have an answer for that. Just seems like a bad idea though. Karma?"

"Rar. Blarg." the alien who was drawing said.

"Hey, he's done drawing the map."

Wash went over and looked at it. It was a stick figure with x's on it's eyes, a frownie face, and an arrow pointing to it that said:

 _*SHISNO*_

And above the drawing it said:

 _*HUMENS SUK*_

"What does it say? What does it say?" Doc asked.

"It says peace talks have broken down. Now we do it our way." Wash said.

The Meta grew a grin underneath his helmet and growled as he opened fire. The two former teammates killed all of them.

* * *

"That was just cruel!" Weiss yelled.

The more memories they watched, the more they became aware that Jaune couldn't go back to the way he was before. The only thing they could do is hope that they could somehow bring him back.

* * *

At this point Doc and Wash were talking while the Meta went inside the nearby temple. He was looking for anything useful when he found the memory unit Epsilon was in. It was empty.

He' _s gone_

 _WHERE IS HE?_

 _ **We must find him**_

'Are you kidding me?!' he growled.

"What did you find, Meta?" Wash asked.

The Meta threw a grenade in anger at almost hit him.

"Hey! Watch it! Meta, come out here, now."

'This sucks!'

 _Epsilon is missing_

Find him

 _Find him_

The Meta then proceeded to break things inside.

"Doc, get in there and see what he found." Wash ordered.

"Which Doc? There's a... is there another Doc here? I know you're not talking to me." the purple soldier said.

"Are you going in or not?"

"Oh, do I have a choice? Then not. I'm gonna go with that one."

"Meta! Get out here."

'This is bullshit! What the balls!' the brute growled.

"Yeah, definitely gonna stick with not. That seems like the best one of those two choices that you gave me." Doc said.

"Get in there." Wash told him.

"Tell you what. Put me back in the wall. I like the wall. It was cozy and it protected me. I miss my wall!"

"You are utterly useless. I know we brought you along for a reason, but for the life of me I can't remember what it is."

"The important thing is we're becoming friends! They say the bonds of men in combat are as strong as brotherhood."

"Meta! Get out here! Please."

'Shut up!' the brute snarled.

 **We should end his life**

Make him bleed

 _Not yet_

"Boy, he sounds tense. Maybe you should give him a back rub. That wouldn't be weird right? One freelancer giving another a back rub?" Doc asked Wash.

"Aren't you trained in stress management or something? Calm him down!" the grey freelancer said.

"That only works if the person wants to be calm. I don't think he qualifies."

"Listen, Meta, whatever you found, we can deal with it; I promise. Just come out here and show me what it is."

The Meta then grabbed the unit and flung it at their heads, forcing them to duck.

"Whoa!" Wash yelled.

"Funky butt loving!" Doc squealed.

"Oh. You found... that." Wash said when he actually saw the unit.

The Meta then walked out with his suit sparking from going on his tantrum. 'This is here! It's the unit!' he growled.

"Don't get excited, it's empty."

'I know it's empty you idiot! Why do you think I'm mad?!'

"What is it?" Doc asked.

"This is the Epsilon unit." Wash told him.

"This is what you've been looking for?"

"Yes."

"Not what I was expecting. I mean I like the color but other than that, eahhh."

"Clearly they transferred Epsilon into that floating thing we saw."

"You saw a floating thing?"

"Yes, like a metal eye. It shot a laser at us."

"Yeah, okay. Hey Wash, this sun is really hot. Maybe we should find you some shade?"

"I'm not hallucinating, Meta saw it too."

The Meta smiled underneath his helmet. 'I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't see anything.' he growled.

"Oh yes you did! Don't even try that."

"Wash, do you see the floating eyeball now? Is he here with us?" Doc questioned.

"Don't psychoanalyze me."

"I'd like to talk to the laser eye for a minute, Wash."

"Shut up."

* * *

"This is great." chuckled Yang.

"Nice one Jaune." Nora said.

Ruby was laughing hysterically.

* * *

"Meta, let's covert this to a recovery unit. But be careful, this thing looks like it's in bad shape." Wash said.

'Why do I have to do everything?' the Meta growled as he approached the unit.

"What's he doing?" Doc asked.

"This is a storage unit, but we're trained to modify them. We can change a storage unit into a capture unit. That way the next time we see Epsilon, he won't get away." Wash explained.

"Are you talking about the regular Epsilon? Or the Epsilon that's just a floating head and visits you when you're alone?"

"I'm not crazy. ... And it was just the eye that was floating around, not a whole head."

"Yes Wash, because the whole head is what makes it crazy."

* * *

15 minutes later...

"Great. He's done." Wash said.

"Why is it sparking like that?" asked Doc.

"This thing's been through a lot, it's pretty badly damaged. But now that it's a capture unit we just need to get it near Epsilon, and we can pull him in."

"What if it breaks?"

"Don't worry, it will hold until we get him. After that, it doesn't matter. It can short out for all I care."

"Then what's the point of all this?"

"I just have to deliver Epsilon to the Chairman, I don't have to guarantee what condition I deliver him in. He's just evidence anyway."

'Yeah, the Chairman. That's where it's going.' the Meta thought.

 ** _Epsilon's ours_**

 _We need him_

 _HE WON'T BE TAKEN FROM US_

"Meta, grab it. Doc, get ready to move." Wash ordered.

The Meta grabbed the unit and started to walk off.

"Move? Move where? We don't know where they are." said the medic.

"We know they're not here. So gather your gear and get ready to move out."

"Well, can we track them?"

"Track them?"

"You know, pick up a trail. Like footprints."

"Footprints? In the desert?"

"Don't special agents have the ability to track there targets through any kind of terrain? Follow broken tree branches..."

"Tree branches? In the desert?"

"Okay these are bad examples. Maybe heat signatures?"

"In the desert?"

"Like exhaust trails? I don't know."

"Tell you what. Why don't you stick to not understanding medicine? Don't feel the need to expand your sphere of ignorance."

"Fine. Jeeze. I'm just trying to help." Doc said angrily before walking off.

'What's wrong with him?' the Meta growled when he walked back towards them.

"Him? Ah, he's always whining about something. Hey Meta, is there anyway to track the Reds by picking up a trail? Like a uh, heat signature or something?"

'... You do realize we're in the desert right?'

"Yes, I know we're in the desert."

'Ya know? I think Doc's right. You're going nuts.' the Meta chuckled as he walked off.

"Not this again. You saw it too! ... You heard the conversation didn't you?"

'Yep.'

"I hate you."

'Yeah, I hate you too buddy. Give me a second. ... Okay, got it.'

"That's great. You picked up a trail? Really?"

"Hi guys, what's up?" Doc asked as he approached.

"Oh, uh... Meta here was able to pick up a faint trail of the Reds based on gas spectrometry and uh, uhum... resident heat signatures."

"What? I thought you said you couldn't do that."

"I didn't say we couldn't do that, I said you're an idiot. Those are two different discussions."

'That means you're an idiot too Wash.' the Meta told him.

"I want credit for the idea." Doc announced.

"Doc, just let us do our job. You do your job. Anything, medical to report?" Wash asked.

"No. The dead aliens are still dead. Also still aliens, but that's less significant."

"Wonderful."

"Yeah, one other thing. You know that Stockholm Syndrome where prisoners start to like and identify with their captors after being held hostage for long enough?"

"What about it?"

"No-one has that yet."

"The feeling is mutual."

'I don't know, this guys actually starting to grow on me.' the Meta hissed.

"Shut up."

The memory ended.

* * *

The next day...

The Meta was beating up on a corpse of one of the aliens in anger when Epsilon's recovery beacon activated.

'Wash, I got a beacon!' the Meta growled.

"I'm getting it too. I should have known he might end up there." Washington said.

"What is it?" asked Doc.

"It's a recovery beacon. It's him. It's Epsilon. Doc, go get a vehicle. Meta, you grab the memory unit."

 _It's time_

 _ **Yay!**_

Epsilon

'Let's get this bastard.' the Meta growled.

"But where are we going?" Doc asked.

"We're going to the only place that's left. The Mother of Invention." Wash told him.

Gamma fast forwarded the memory to where the group was on Sidewinder.

The group was driving when they saw Church's body laying on the ground.

"There he is! ... Something doesn't seem right here. Stop the car." Wash told Doc.

"Stop?" the medic asked.

Epsilon was on the ground, alone, in the open snow.

"I don't like this. How did he get hurt? Why isn't anyone helping him?" Wash questioned.

'It's wrong. It's most likely a trap.' the Meta growled.

"You're right. This is a trap. Those walls there, perfect for a sniper. We walk into where he's hurt and suddenly we're boxed in. Nowhere to go."

"You think the Reds are trying to ambush us?" Doc asked.

"The Reds? Hahaha! No. This is an actual military tactic. We drilled it all the time in training. No. Whoever set this up is a freelancer."

"Yeah, but if a freelancer set this up; wouldn't they know that you guys were freelancers and that you would recognize this as soon as you saw it?"

"What? Nooo... You're over thinking it. That's just..."

Wash was then cut off by a beeping sound and they all realized that they were in a circle of bombs.

"Oh, son of a bitch." Wash complained.

Doc sighed. "Told you so."

Then the explosives went off and Brute Shot flung off the Meta's back as everyone was sent flying.

* * *

"Aww, yeah! Freelancer fight!" Nora yelled.

"Yeah!" Yang and Ruby agreed.

Even Weiss had some excitement.

* * *

The Meta raised himself off the ground to see Texas standing on Wash's hand.

* * *

"Wait what?!" Pyrrha asked.

"How?!" Blake questioned.

"She's alive..." Church said.

* * *

 **Get her**

 _Beta_

There's two of me?

 _Catch her_

The "AI" told the Meta. He then charged at her.

"You're supposed to be dead." Wash said.

"Don't sound so disappointed. You'll make me cry." Tex said sarcastically. "Where's the Director?"

"The Director? And how would I know that?"

"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Wrong answer."

 **[Play: Boss Battle - By: Jeff Williams]**

The Meta let out a growl as he rammed Tex with his shoulder and did a front roll to recover. He then stood up and ran back at her, only to get hit in the back of his head and faceplant into the snow. The Meta growled as he slammed his fist into the ground before standing back up.

He threw three punches that were dodged, and three more that were blocked. He then got punched in the throat, kneed in the head, and kicked away. Tex then pulled out a switch and pressed it, creating an explosion next to her and launching a gatling gun upwards. She grabbed it and opened fire. The Meta outran the shots and jumped behind a giant rock that shattered from the bullets.

After she ran out of ammo, the Meta pulled out his magnum and returned fire. Tex hid behind a different rock, broke the side, and pulled to battle rifles out of it before opening fire again. Wash tried to impale her with the capture unit's blade but Tex dodged. Wash hit one on her guns away and she dodged another swing befits almost throwing the unit off the cliff.

"No!" Wash yelled as he jumped towards it, barely catching it.

The Meta ran back at Tex and got two hits off before she fell to the ground. The brute then tried to jump on top of her but she put her boot to his chest and the two were at a stalemate while the Meta pointed the gun away and she kept shooting. Tex finally managed to kick him off of her and did a back-roll to stand up. She pulled out another switch and pressed it's button.

 **[Music end]**

 **[Play: Ice Fight - By: Jeff Williams]**

The mountain behind the Meta and Wash started to crumble, causing an avalanche that also broke the ice underneath all of their feet. The two ran back at Tex who dodged a swing from Wash and kicked him back. The Meta jumped over his falling body and nailed Tex in the face.

"Meta, take it!" Wash yelled as the brute grabbed the capture unit.

The Meta used two spinning attacks against Tex but she jumped back from both of them. Wash jumped and kneed her head while she was distracted and tried to hit her again but she blocked his attacks and punched him downwards. He then had to roll out of the way of a chunk of the mountain almost crushed him. The Meta jumped on said chunk and kicked Tex away with both of his legs. Another chuck landed in between the two overpowered ex-agents and the Meta kicked it at his opponent who jumped on top of it. She jumped up on a higher up piece as Wash ran on the one next to her and opened fire with his battle rifle.

The Meta tried to jump on Tex's head but she and Wash jumped off the falling debris and landed back on the ground. Tex pulled off a front roll while Wash landed on his feet and ran at her. She punched a chunk of the ice at Wash, he was almost hit and hat to duck under it via backroll. The Meta jumped on and off the chuck and at Tex. She ran up a perfectly made piece and grabbed the Meta midair by his chin and right wrist and the two fell to the ground. As they landed, the Meta had his back snapped over Tex's shoulders. She threw the brute into the air and back kicked him away at Wash.

The grey freelancer rolled out of the way and opened fire again. Tex hit behind another rock and pressed yet another switch, blowing up even more stuff. And splitting the cliff in half. As the black freelancer ran to the safe side, Wash shot her in the side and she let out a yell before hitting the ground.

"Oh my God." Wash said as he finally realized what Tex did. "RUN!"

Wash and the Meta were running to the stable side as theirs was falling into the ocean. The Meta saw Brute Shot falling from the over side and jumped.

"Meta, wait! I...!" Wash yelled.

He grabbed it and stuck it into the side before making his way up.

"Goddamnit!"

"Wash! Here! Take this!" Doc yelled as he waved the tow-hook of the Warthog.

"Doc?! Throw it! Throw it!"

"Here it... comes!"

The purple soldier threw the hook, it went five feet and dropped from the newly formed cliff.

 **[Music end]**

"You've got to be kidding me." Wash said and he ran.

The grey freelancer grabbed the hook and Doc helped pull him up.

"That was the second worst throw ever. Of all time." he said.

"What do you want from me? I ran track in high school." Doc told him.

The Meta was running right at Tex as she was still trying to stand up. He tried to bring the blade of his weapon on her skull but she had pulled out a dagger and blocked it. She elbowed his head, and punched his face; making him spin around. She then cut his side open and spun the knife around, stabbing it into the back of his shoulder as he kneeled on the ground.

The Meta aimed Brute Shot at her feet and pulled the trigger, sending them both flying back.

"Meta! Wait!" Wash yelled as the brute immediately stood back up and pulled out the capture unit. "We don't need to hurt her! We only need...!"

He was cut off when the Meta picked Tex up by the throat and screamed in pain as he stapled the blade of the capture unit into her head.

"NO! STOP!" both Epsilon and Alpha yelled.

The Meta then tossed Tex's lifeless, metallic body to the side.

"Let her out of that thing!" Epsilon demanded.

"We can't. The unit is failing. Epsilon, it's over. You're coming with us." Wash said.

"I'm not going anywhere with you! We can fight you!"

"We can?" Doc asked as he stood next to the AI.

"We will."

"Ah... great."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Wash said. "Meta, give me the memory unit. Meta?"

The Meta looked at the unit and at Wash.

 _ **She's ours**_

 _The Chairman won't use her_

 **Take it**

'... She's mine.' the Meta snarled.

"Meta! No! Don't...!" Wash yelled.

'I believe you said "I just have to deliver Epsilon to the Chairman, I don't have to guarantee what condition I deliver him in." The same applies with her.'

The Meta put the memory unit on his back and activated the invisibility unit.

"Damnit!" yelled Wash.

'Epsilon, it's your turn.' the Meta growled.

"Doc, you have to protect Epsilon!"

"Wh-what do I do?!" the medic asked.

"RUN!"

'Traitor!' the Meta growled as he cracked Wash in the head.

He then turned to Epsilon and Doc and opened fire as they ran. Wash jumped on the brute's back and wrapped his arms around the giant's neck.

"I'll try to hold him!" the grey freelancer yelled.

The Meta threw him off literally a second later. And the two opened fire one one another. Wash was hit in the side and sent flying back.

'First you stay with the Director, then you so easily betray the Red and Blue idiots, and now, you turn on me. We used to be buds, but I don't think I'll have any regrets about wringing your throat.' the Meta growled as he walked towards the bleeding Wash.

"I knew you would do this, Meta. I just can't believe... can't believe..." Wash started.

The Meta turned around after hearing a growing noise to see a burning Pelican coming right at them.

"I can't believe it."

The crash left the Meta submerged in snow and in pain as he was barely hit while Wash jumped out of the way.

"Whoa! That was a close one!" Doc yelled in relief after the Pelican stopped right in front of him.

"I would say that was the cavalry, but I've never seen a line of horses crash into the battlefield from outer space before." Wash announced.

"Hey, is it possible for a memory fragment out of an artificial intelligence program enclosed inside of a robotic body to piss its pants? Because I'm pretty sure I just did that." Epsilon said.

The Reds, Caboose, and Tucker came out of the Pelican.

"Grif! Look what you did to our ship!" Sarge yelled.

"Ah, fuck it, it's a rental." the orange soldier said.

"Good point, fuck it."

Sarge then kicked the ship and the one small act sent the thing falling over the side.

"There it is!" Epsilon yelled when he saw the memory unit sticking out of the snow. "Over here! Help!"

"Epsilon, there's nothing we can do. She's stuck in there." Wash told him.

"So, let her out."

"We rigged it so it's one way. We didn't want you to escape again."

"Well, unrig it!"

"I need to get it to a lab; somewhere with tools."

"Simmons?"

"Hey, he's the expert. I don't know what I can do to help." the maroon soldier said.

"And it's in no condition to move. If it lock down before I can open it, she'll be trapped in there." Wash told them.

"We should try something."

"If I let her out, you have to come with me." he told Epsilon.

"Yes, fine. Just get her out." the AI said.

"Caboose, Tucker, get in the base. See if you can find some tools."

"Okay." Caboose said.

"Alright, I'll be right back." Tucker told them and the two ran off.

"You three find me anything that has power. Anything and everything. We're gonna need a lot to keep it online." Wash said.

"On it!" Sarge yelled as the Reds left.

"I can get her out." Epsilon said.

"What?" Wash asked. "No."

"It's my only option."

"I need you, Epsilon; you're my only ticket out of this mess. I-If you get stuck in there, they'll never believe me. I'm not going back to prison."

"I can do it."

"No! I won't let you."

"You can't stop me. I have to help her. She's here because of us."

"Because of me?"

"Not you. US. Me and Alpha, and the Director."

"You've started to remember."

"I found some journals from the Director. She's someone from his life. Someone he loved."

"Allison. Her name was Allison."

"Allison... When they made Alpha, she came back. She was a byproduct of the process."

"She's just a shadow."

"Don't call her that! She died in her real life and that's all the Director ever remembered of her. So now, no matter how tough she is, no matter how hard she fights; she's always going to fail. Because that's what she's based on."

 **[Play: When Your Middle Name is Danger - By: Torcadero]**

"No matter what she's doing, or what she's trying to accomplish; just when her goal is within her reach, it gets yanked away. Every. Single. Time. Can you imagine what's that like?" Epsilon asked"

The snow under the capture unit began to move and the Meta let out a growl as he rose from white powder and turned to face them.

"I think I'm getting the idea." Wash stated.

'I'm not dead yet.' the Meta growled.

 **[Music end]**

"Epsilon, run!"

As soon as Wash finished his sentence, the Meta raised both his fists and tried to bring them down on the grey freelancer. Wash rolled out of the way and was about to shoot at the Meta when the brute grabbed his own weapon and hit him in the chest with and explosive. The brute then put his sights on the AI and did the same.

Wash got back up and he and the Meta opened fire on eachother. After a few seconds, the grey freelancer pulled out his knife, rolled out of the way of another explosion, and dodged a slash from Brute Shot before cutting the Meta in his chest and collarbone. He then tried to punch the brute but the Meta rolled underneath the attack and activated the invisibility unit.

Wash noticed the prints in the snow, spun his knife around, threw it, and stuck the Meta in the chest; also deactivating the unit. The Meta growled in annoyance and shot right in front of Wash, making the grey freelancer fly back. The Meta then had to duck from a rocket and turned around to see the Reds and Tucker running at him with their weapons drawn.

 **[Play: Prelude - By: Jeff Williams]**

"Attack!" Sarge yelled.

"Get him!" yelled Simmons.

"We're gonna fuckin' die!" Grif yelped.

The Meta moved out of the way of the bullets headed his way and activated the domed energy shield to stop a few grenades and rockets. The shield dropped and the brute jumped into the air. He pulled Brute Shot's trigger several times, making the group disperse as he headed towards them.

"Fire in the hole!" Simmons announced as he pulled the trigger of his rocket launcher.

The Meta rolled in the air to dodge and tried to cut the launcher in half as he landed and Simmons went flying back. Tucker put away his battle rifle and activated his energy sword, causing Ruby to have a massive freak out. The aqua soldier swung at the brute but was blocked and hit to the ground. The Meta then barely managed to raise his weapon as a shield to keep his head from getting blown off by Sarge's shotgun. After that, Grif jumped on the Meta's back, trying and failing to tackle him. Although he managed to make him drop Brute Shot.

"This guys like a bear!" the orange soldier said. He then yelled: "Yoink!" as he was thrown off and hit the ground.

The Meta then clobbered Sarge's nuts and delivered an uppercut to his head before grabbing his ankle, dodging a shotgun blast, spinning him around, and throwing him into Simmons and Grif.

"Gah, damnit!" Sarge complained.

"Stab!" Tucker exclaimed as he stuck his blade into the Meta's chest.

The brute hit the aqua soldier in the head before Tucker dodged the next two swings.

"Guys, I can't fight him by myself!"

The Meta then delivered two more blows to Tucker's face, making fall to the ground. The Meta was then shot in the side and turned to look at Sarge.

"Come here you big son of a bitch!" the older soldier yelled.

The Meta growled and took four shots to the torso as the to walked towards one another. When he got in range, the Meta slapped Sarge's gun away and started to choke him.

 **[Music end]**

"Auug! Hey Grif!" Sarge grunted as he was being choked. "I've lost my shotgun! What an I gonna do without… my shotgun? Shotgun damnit!"

"Shotgun?" The overweight orange soldier asked. "Come on Simmons." He said as he ran over to the flipped Warthog.

"Aah… Hey Meta, settle a bet would ya? Does that thing kind of look like a big cat to you?" Sarge asked as he hooked a claw to the Meta and pointed his head at the car.

 **[Play: Ice Fight - By: Jeff Williams]**

The brute turned to look at what the red soldier was going on about when he saw Grif and Simmons pushing his Warthog off the cliff.

"C'mon Grif, push!" Simmons said.

"I am pushing!" replied Grif.

The Meta then noticed that it's grapple was leading towards him and quickly looked down to see it's claw attached to his chestplate. The warthog then started to fall and he let out a terrified hiss as he was dragged to the ground. He released the red sim trooper and the capture unit flung off his back. While he was being dragged over the side, he grabbed the ankle of the orange one in either an act to save himself or to take the idiot with him.

"Guow!" Grif mumbled as he fell.

"Grif!" Simmons yelled as he jumped to save his friend.

He grabbed his hand and the sudden jerk made the monster of a man lose his grip. He let out another hiss which only meant one thing.

'Son of a biiitch!'

As the Meta was falling his life started to flash before his eyes. He saw the other freelancers, their missions together, and when he killed them. His heart jerked in pain as these events replayed in his mind. Sigma had brainwashed him... and having Omega just ended up making it worse. He had nothing. His friends? Gone. His life? Ruined. Washington? Just another traitor. He tried to save the AI, so if he somehow lived from this he would find them... and he would kill them both. Even though the AI were gone and dead... to him, they were very much still alive.

 _Go on_

 ** _Take it_**

 **Kill them**

Even though he eventually realized that Sigma was a complete, fucking, asshole, his life was over. He was a monster. There was no going back from it, and strangely enough, he didn't really care anymore. He deserved death more than anyone else, even Wash. Why fight it?

Just as he was accepting his fate, he noticed that the time-distortion unit was activating. 'Great…' he thought sarcastically to himself.

'Not only am I gonna die the same way I killed Carolina. I get to it in slow-mo... fucking perfect.'

Under the first notification however, a second one appeared which read:

 _*Transporting...*_

'Wait what?! Since when could it do that?!'

Right as he hit the water a huge flash of light emerged.

 **[Music end]**

* * *

The Meta woke up in a place that he didn't recognize. He grunted as he sat up.

'Aaugh… My head is fucking killing me.'

Another headache? He had been getting them ever since the E.M.P. went off, killing the AI, but more importantly...

'What is this place? A forest? Why is everything red?'

Standing up, he looked around and rubbed his head.

'Hey, what's going on with my armor?' he asked himself as he looked down.

Sparks were coming off of it and it was covered in static. He then entered a command on his arm after he opened a hatch that was protecting a screen.

 _*Rebooting System...*_

The memory ended.

* * *

After it was all over, they looked back at the Meta.

"That was quite the story." Ozpin stated.

"That was awesome! But also really sad and painful to see. I'm actually not sure how I fell about it." Nora announced.

"Same here." said Ruby.

"Well, now there's only one thing left to do." Ozpin said.

"Professor?" Yang asked.

"You don't mean...?" started Weiss.

"Indeed I do. Tomorrow, we wake Mr. Arc."


	16. Chapter 14: Welcome Home

**Note: Well, now I can finally get back to these shorter chapters. Thank freaking goodness.**

 **Okay begin!**

* * *

When the Meta woke up he noticed that he was back on the hospital bed, however he wasn't tied down this time. He sat up and grabbed his head, it really hurt.

'Gah. I feel like someone went through my head. Which one of you idiots did that?' he hissed.

 _I didn't_

 ** _Not_** _**me**_

Nope

 _"I SEE YOU ARE AWAKE NOW."_ said Gamma.

'Gamma, are you the one that shifted through my head?' the Meta thought.

" _NO."_

'Don't you fucking lie to me.'

 _"I AM NOT LYING."_

'You're the AI of deceit, that's what you do.'

 _"POINT TAKEN."_

'So it was you?'

 _"... DRAT. ARE YOU ANGRY?"_

'Yes I'm angry! Why wouldn't I be?!'

The AI ignored his question and went into his scroll that Ozpin had left in the room for contact.

'What are you doing?'

 _"INFORMING SOME PEOPLE THAT YOU'VE WOKEN UP."_

'Do you mean the guys I've had to fight twice now?!'

 _"CORRECT."_

'Why the hell would you let them know that?'

 _"REMEMBER YOUR MEMORY LOSS?"_

'Yeah...?'

 _"WELL, IT WOULD APPEAR THAT THIS IS WHERE YOU ARE FROM."_

* * *

Teams RWBY and NPR were waiting for Gary to let them know when Jaune woke up. The room was filled with eerie silence as Ren, Yang, Ruby, and Weiss failed to concentrate on their game of 'Remnant the Game', Omega was extremely bored with the lack of energy around everyone, Nora was trying to fall asleep, Blake was thinking about the White Fang again as well as the Meta, and Pyrrha just sat there. It wasn't until they were in the library for nearly forty minutes that Gary texted Ruby.

"... He's up." she said weakly.

Everyone had a mix of happiness and fear about the situation, well except Nora; she sprang up with a big grin on her face.

"Then let's get going!" she said. She then looked to see that everyone was still sitting, and the looks on their faces. "Come on guys. We got Jaune back! This is a happy moment!"

Weiss turned to her. "I don't think I will ever understand you."

"Huh?"

"He nearly KILLED us. TWICE! What makes you think he won't try again?"

"Because he's our friend! He wouldn't do that... a third time. Besides, Gary's there to explain stuff."

"That doesn't mean he'll listen though." Yang told her.

"I sure hope he does." said Ruby.

"I am grateful that he has returned, but we must be prepared for the worst case scenario." Ren added.

"It's been so long since we've seen him." Pyrrha then grew a smile. "Let's welcome him home."

* * *

'So, these are the guys from the footage than Connie found?'

 _"CORRECT."_

The Meta stood up and rammed his fist into the machine Gamma was previously in, breaking it. 'Damn it all! Damn the Director! Damn the project! Damn me! Damn everything! They're my friends from my old life, and I attacked them!'

 _They were in contact with Washington_

'Shut the hell up Sigma! It turned out to be an old man that sounds like the bastard!'

Just then the Meta heard a click and saw said man open and walk in the door, the female from before following behind him, she was once again holding her wand or riding crop or whatever it was.

"It's nice to see you again. My name is Ozpin, I'm the headmaster of this school. Your old headmaster." the man said.

The Meta used his own scroll to type after Gamma had suggested it.

 _*I went here?*_

"Indeed." Ozpin replied.

 _*I knew you?*_

"Yes. You've been gone quite a long time, five years as a matter of fact. Though for us, it has been much shorter. I take it by now you've realized your age?"

The Meta froze for a few moments. 'The time-distortion unit didn't only transport me... it sent me backwards?'

 _"YES."_ Gamma replied.

'Could it always do that?'

 _"YES. AGENT WYOMING ACTUALLY USED IT IN HIS FIGHT AGAINST THE RED AND BLUE SIMULATION TROOPERS."_

'Why didn't you tell me that?!'

 _"... I PLEAD THE FIFTH."_

'And how does he know this?'

 _"I MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE TOLD HIM?"_

"The woman behind me was one of your teachers, Glynda Goodwitch." Ozpin said before Jaune could get angry again.

"It's very good to see you again Mr. Arc." Goodwitch said with a smile.

'Arc?' the Meta hissed.

 _"I FORGOT. YOUR REAL NAME IS APPERENTLY JAUNE ARC."_ Gamma informed him.

'So they guy who called me 'Jauny boy...?'

 _"WAS YOUR BULLY."_

'Dang, I must have been pathetic to get pushed around by that idiot.'

 _"FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND, YOU WERE. YOU DIDN'T EVEN HAVE A SEMBLANCE AND NEEDED HELP TO UNLOCK YOUR AURA."_

'Uh, what?'

Gamma turned to Ozpin. _"WE HAVE A LOT OF EXPLAINING TO DO."_

* * *

About fifteen minutes later...

"And that's all you need to know about dust and semblances." Ozpin summed up.

A buzz went off and Glynda looked at her scroll. "They're here."

"We will have to go over everything else another time it seems. Excuse me for a moment." the headmaster said before getting up from his chair and walking out the door.

He came back less than a minute later and asked: "There are some more people here to see you. May they come in?"

The Meta was a little skeptical but nodded.

"Very well then." then Ozpin reopened the door. "You may enter."

The Meta let out a surprised growl when he saw the teens he beat the crap out of apparently a week or two back. However, what surprised him even more was when the girl who blew up Brute Shot ran right at him and hugged him very tightly, tears streaming down her face.

"I missed you so much!" she sobbed.

The yellow haired girl that he snapped over his leg let out a laugh. "You probably don't remember, but that's Nora. She's one of your teammates."

'What? Teammates?' the Meta growled.

The red reaper from the woods then spoke up after wiping a few tears from her eyes. "Once again, I'm Ruby. This is Weiss, Blake, and Yang; together we're Team RWBY."

The four girls he originally fought smiled at him, albeit somewhat weakly. He figured they might still be scared or skeptical of him, more then likely both.

Then Ruby motioned at the others. "And with Nora, Ren, and Pyrrha, you guys are Team JNPR."

The Meta looked at the other two, mainly the red and gold girl. He and Pyrrha stared at eachother for a time before tears started to form in the former's eyes.

 _"AGENT MAINE, AS RUBY HAS SAID; HER NAME IS PYRRHA. SHE IS NOT CAROLINA. BUT THE RESEMBLANCE AND VOICE ARE UNCANNY."_ Gamma said.

Nora was still holding onto the Meta with tremendous strength until he started typing on his scroll.

 _*I'm sorry.*_ was all that it said.

The Spartan girl could no longer contain herself as she started to cry tears of joy. She ran to her team leader and hugged him, followed by Nora and Ruby. Yang simply laughed at the Meta's confused and slightly embarrassed face while everyone else shook their heads and smiled at him.

"I believe we should give Mr. Arc some time to process this information." Ozpin announced. Then he turned to the Meta. "Your team will escort you to your dorm, but first I have a few gifts for you."

Jaune tilted his head.

"First things first, in order to make sure you know this isn't part of some sort elaborate scheme... I will order the return of your armor if you want it back. It has only been observed, it is untouched."

'Okay, I like this guy. Yes. Armor, please.' the Meta growled.

 _"HE DOES WANT IT BACK."_ Gamma translated.

Ozpin nodded before calling someone. "James, he wants it. ... Yes I'm serious about giving it back to him. ... Have it here within the next hour, I know you're still in the city." Then he hung up before returning his gaze to the Meta. "And the other thing... Mr. Grif; please enter."

The Meta sprung up and growled upon hearing the name of the orange soldier. Everyone tensed up as this happened, well except for Ozpin. Ruby, Pyrrha, and Nora, stopped hugging the brute and grabbed his arms to try and hold him back.

However, no-one came in.

"Mr. Grif?" Ozpin asked.

Blake then stepped out the door to see what the overweight soldier was doing. "He ran away!" the faunus reported.

"I knew we should've had someone out there with him." Glynda said.

'Why do I need to see that guy anyways?' Maine snarled.

"Because of me dipshit." Church said as he showed up on Ozpin's scroll. "Long time no see, Meta."

* * *

While Jaune was still unconscious...

"YOU WANT ME TO WHAT?!" Church yelled.

He and Grif were talking with the headmaster in his office again when the Alpha heard something that he did not want to hear.

"I asked if you would be Mr. Arc's translator." Ozpin replied.

"No way I'm doing that! I'm not going back in his head! Besides, isn't Gamma in there already?!" Church asked.

"He is, but I also have him doing some... special tasks for me at times and truth be told; I need him more often than I have him for. Also, wasn't it you that said that you didn't want him anywhere near Mr. Arc? While I am unaware of your reasoning behind this, you seemed pretty dead set against it."

"Are you seriously pulling the 'you said' card?!"

"Indeed I am." the headmaster said with a smirk.

"... Ya know what? Fuck you Oz."

* * *

The teens and Glynda watched in slight terror as different emotions came and went from Jaune's face.

 ** _Is it Alpha or Epsilon?_**

 **Who cares? Kill them!**

Church!

 _Take him_

 ** _Take it_**

'Why is he here?' the Meta growled.

"You know what? I'm not happy about seeing you either. Personally, I wish you died. But you know what? Life and my fatass mouth are fucking bitches. So either I'm your new translator or you can't communicate nearly as easy, cause the Wizard of Motherfucking Oz has other needs for Gamma." the Alpha told him.

'What 'other needs' for Gamma?'

 _"I HAVE BEEN HELPING PROFESSOR OZPIN WITH FILES, ERRENDS, ETCETERA."_ Gary said.

'So you're a secretary?'

 _"YOU COULD SAY THAT."_

'Then what about the others?'

 _Just take the Alpha_

 _Go on_

 **I still vote that we kill him**

"They're not real Meta, they're dead. Your brain just got fucked up from the emp so you went even more nuts." Church told him.

'What?' Jaune hissed.

"They're figments of you imagination. They. Aren't. Real. Anymore."

 _He lies_

 _"IT IS THE TRUTH,"_ Gamma said.

'That doesn't mean much coming from you.' Jaune growled.

"So... what do you choose?" Ruby asked sheepishly.

 _Say yes_

 _Collect him_

"Eta and Iota" nodded.

Do it

 **I still say we kill everyone**

The Meta growled. 'Fine. I'll take the Alpha.'

Church transferred himself to Jaune's scroll and sighed in annoyance. "I hate my life."

* * *

In JNPR's dorm...

"Jaune's back! Jaune's back! Jaune's back! Jaune's back! Jau..." Nora exclaimed over and over as she jumped around until she was cut off by Church.

"Oh my God. Just shut up."

The Meta hissed.

"Is she always this hyper?" the Alpha translated.

"Pretty much." Pyrrha said with a smile.

"Hey Meta, you know what? Just go ahead and kill me after all."

"Actually that brings up a question. What do you want us to call you anyway?" Ren asked.

"I prefer 'Jaune'." Nora announced.

"It's your decision." Ren told his leader.

"Does anyone know of any insulting nicknames he used to have?" asked Church.

'You suck, Alpha.' Jaune growled.

"He said he wants to be named Turdfucker."

'I hate you.'

"Aww, I hate you too buddy."

The Meta pulled out his scroll and typed:

 _*I guess either Jaune, Maine, or Meta. I don't personally care which, I'm already used to the last two. Just nothing outside that list.*_

"It hasn't even been an hour and you're already stopped using me, I don't know weather to be hurt or delighted." Church said.

* * *

Gamma had already been removed from Jaune's head again and Ozpin had but him in the chamber that was keeping Autumn alive, but since the AI of deceit's trait is that he can move around as much as he wants once implanted, he was speaking with Omega outside of the school at midnight from Ruby's scroll.

 **"The Meta is awake again, the plan still seems to be working."** Omega said as Ruby stood with her arms crossed.

 _"YES. SO FAR SO GOOD AS THEY SAY."_ Gamma replied.

"I thought I heard someone over here." a voice said.

Gamma flashed out before he was seen and Omega turned to see Team CRDL.

Omega sighed. **'These fools.'** Then he let go of his control.

The only thing Ruby knew was that at one moment she was in bed and the next she was in the courtyard, still in her pajamas, but with Crescent Rose folded up under her arm.

"Uugh... What? When did I go out here?" she asked no-one in particular. Then she noticed CRDL.

"Now, what are you doing out here so late?" Cardin questioned.

"I uh, I don't know. Why are you guys out here?"

"Peach asked us to gather a special flower from the garden that only blooms at night for her class tomorrow. We should turn you in, but let's make a deal. You're friends with the bunny freak, lead her to us as the edge of Forever Fall tomorrow and we don't let anyone know you were out here. Sound fair?"

Ruby didn't want to get in trouble for something she wasn't even aware that she had done, but there was no way under any circumstance she would lead Velvet along to get hurt. The red reaper never liked Cardin or his team, but she had a boiling feeling in her gut. She wanted to... kill them? No way. Never. Yeah, these guys were jerks but she'd never do that! She didn't even understand why she wanted something like that.

 **'Do it.'** Omega told her from inside her head. Unaware to her, the feeling was his doing.

"What?" Ruby asked.

 **'No one can see us, they're all asleep.'**

"Hey, you're that voice I've been hearing."

 **'And the one in your "dream". I told you that you'd see me again.'**

"What do you want from me?!"

 **'Kill the idiots in front of you.'**

"What?! I would never do something like that!"

 **'Oh, come on. You hate them. I hate them. Everyone hates them! They won't be missed. And besides, are you really going to let them continue to hurt people?'**

"I mean, I don't want them to. But..."

"Hey look at that. Little Rose is talking to herself." Cardin teased.

"Ha! Ha! Ha! She's insane!" Russel laughed.

"Let's go ahead and take her to Goodwitch. Dove, grab her."

 **'Listen to that. Bullies. They'll get what's coming to them anyways. Do it.'** Omega ordered.

"No!" Ruby protested.

 **'Send them into OBLIVION!'**

"Leave me alone!"

 **'Fine. If you won't do it...'**

 **[Play: When it Falls - By: Jeff Williams]**

As soon as Dove grabbed ahold of Ruby's wrist, the red reaper ripped his arm away and kicked his nuts before punching his head onto the ground as she looked down. Omega, had once again seized control. Ruby looked back up at the rest of CRDL with her eyes glowing white and had a wicked smile across her face.

 **"Then I will."**


	17. Chapter 15: The First Victims

**Note: Yep, for this story... I've shifted Omega into overdrive. It's going to be bloody.**

 **Okay begin!**

* * *

 **'Fine. If you won't do it...'**

 **[Play: When it Falls - By: Jeff Williams]**

As soon as Dove grabbed ahold of Ruby's wrist, the red reaper ripped his arm away and kicked his nuts before punching his head onto the ground as she looked down. Omega, had once again seized control. Ruby looked back up at the rest of CRDL with her eyes glowing white and had a wicked smile across her face.

 **"Then I will."**

"Hey you little brat!" Cardin yelled as he pulled out his mace.

The leader charged at Ruby who ducked under his swing and tripped him. Cardin shook his head as he pushed himself up and received a kick to the face immediately afterwards, knocking him back down.

"What the...?! Why can't I control myself?!" Ruby asked fearfully as she kept kicking Cardin's head over and over.

The red reaper then used her speed to move out of the way of Russel's daggers.

"How are you controlling me?!" Ruby questioned.

 **"Have you seriously not figured it out yet you fool? Infection? Anger? Ring any bells?"** Omega asked as he switched Crescent Rose into it's scythe form and slammed it into the ground before opening fire.

Ruby thought for a little bit before letting out a gasp. "O-Omega?!"

 **"O'Malley! My name is O'Malley you stupid child!"** the AI of rage replied as he shot Dove in the leg.

Sky, Russel, and Cardin dodged the projectiles and charged at the AI infected girl who swung her weapon and knocked the first two away as Cardin rolled under the attack. The leader of CRDL and the leader of RWBY blocked and hit one another until Omega used the reaper's semblance to get behind the bully. Ruby shot Crescent Rose for momentum and hit Cardin into the air. She kept slashing and hitting him upwards until she summersaulted mid air and slammed him back down, cracking the ground when he made contact.

 **"This is glorious! I could never doing anything like this with those Red and Blue fools!"** O'Malley announced happily.

The other three members of CRDL once again ran at Ruby and Omega once again used her semblance to his advantage, running in between them and making them hit eachother.

"Cut it out Omega!" Ruby begged.

However, the AI of rage didn't listen. He brought down the red reaper's scythe onto Dove's back and fired multiple times, forcing it into his skin.

"Omega, please!"

 **"GAHAHAHAHA!"** Omega laughed as he spun the screaming bully around in circles before flinging him off and into Russel, the former then had his head cracked against a pillar.

Cardin slowly got back up and looked at the extremely injured Dove and saw Russel laying on the ground. He then turned and watched as Sky was slashed until his aura broke. Cardin and Russel paled and Ruby mentally screamed as the maniacally laughing Omega decapitated the blue haired member of CRDL, his blood splattering on Ruby's evilly smiling face and her pajama shirt.

"SKY!" the two still standing members of CRDL screamed before looking back at the reaper as Omega continued to laugh.

 **"Ha. Ha. Ha! HA! HA! HA! HA! MWUHAHAHAHA! It's been waaay too long since I've been able to commit a murder! HAHAHAHAHA!"**

"Y-You-YOU'RE INSANE!" Russel yelled.

"Let's get out of here!" Cardin said and the two started to book it.

They only managed to make it four feet before Ruby suddenly showed up in front of them.

 **"And where do you boys think you're going?"** O'Malley questioned.

Russel let out a yell and tried to punch Ruby but she grabbed his wrist and twisted his arm as she put him in a headlock.

 **"Drop the mace, or I snap your companion's neck like a Goddamn pretzel stick."** ordered O'Malley.

Cardin did as he was told as he and Russel shook in fear. They then became confused when Ruby started crying.

"Omega, please... stop this. Wh-What y-you're doing is *sniff* wrong. It-It's *sniff* disgusting!" she said.

 **"Quiet you fool! It's murder! It's supposed to be disgusting!"**

Omega then turned his gaze to see that the lights in several dorms were flickering on, people were starting to wake up from the racket.

 **"It seems that we have to go ahead and finish up. Damn. I was hoping they wouldn't wake at all."** He then turned back to look at the terrified Cardin.

 **"For the record, I was going to kill him anyways, weather you did what I said or not."**

The back of Ruby's right hand petted Russel's face before it went to his chin. He screamed as the last of the air left his body. Omega dropped his lifeless body to the ground and once again activated Ruby's semblance, speedily punching Cardin's face over and over until he was knocked out. Omega and Ruby then disappeared into rose petals.

 **[Music end]**

Glynda Goodwitch, Bartholomew Oobleck, Ozpin, and multitudes of students made it outside just after the rose petals were blown away by the wind. Everyone stood in shock as they saw the knocked out and dead bodies of CRDL. Ozpin turned to the students.

"EVERYONE! INSIDE! NOW!" he barked and everyone but the professors scattered.

"What happened here?!" Glynda yelled as she shook uncontrollably.

For once, Oobleck was speechless. He just stared at the bloodied battlefield in front of him as Glynda and Ozpin checked who was alive.

* * *

Ruby then found herself in the hall bathroom and ran to a toilet before she started vomiting uncontrollably as tears fell from her face.

"Wh-Why?! Why di-did you... *hurl* f-force me to do that?!" she sobbed.

 **"Oh, get over it. They had it coming. And it won't be the last time you do this."** O'Malley told her.

"Leave me alone!"

 **"I'm in your head you fool. I'm not going anywhere."**

"How... *hurl* did you even get in there?"

 **"I have my ways, now hurry up and wash the blood off your face and hands. You may also want to change shirts."**

"W-We'll stop you." *hurl*

 **"Fool! Your my puppet! My instrument of death! I, am the one in control! You will do my evil bidding! And you won't let a word of this slip, or I will kill everyone and everything you love. Slowly. Painfully. You will listen to them scream and you will watch their tears fall as the blood oozes from their pathetic bodies as I torture them with your own hands! They will beg for death. MWAHAHAHA!"**

"N-No! *sob* Pl-please no!"

 **"Then shut up and do as I say! Now, wipe your tears and take a shower. You smell like death. GAHAHA!"**

Granted Omega can't actually smell anything, but he just wanted to rub salt in the wound. Ruby slowly and shakily got up and went back to her dorm. She slowly cracked the door to make sure that none of her teammates were awake. Yang and Weiss were asleep, but Ruby started to freak out when she saw that Blake wasn't in bed.

 **'Relax, she wasn't here when we walked outside.'** Omega told her from inside her head.

Ruby quietly opened and closed the door behind her as she stepped into the room. She grabbed a fresh pair of pajamas and entered the bathroom. She took her shower, put on her new sleepwear, went back into the main room, hid the old ones in her bag until she could wash them tomorrow, and went to bed. It was a sleepless night for her.

* * *

The next morning...

"Is Blake seriously gone again?" Weiss asked.

"Relax. She probably just got a head start." Yang told her.

She then turned to her sister.

"Hey, Ruby! Classes start back today. You getting up?"

The red reaper just turned in her bed and faced the wall.

"Rubes?"

Yang then walked over to her sister and turned her over. The younger girl's face was extremely pale and had a look of both sadness and horror.

"Ruby? You okay?"

Ruby didn't have time to answer when Jaune kicked the door open, making them all jump.

Church had laughed at the Meta when he learned that he used to wear blue footy pajamas, so the brute was just wearing the undersuit of his armor that Ironwood had very reluctantly given back and Pyrrha made him wash.

"ARE YOU SHITTING ME?! THIS IS JUST GREAT! JUST FUCKING PERFECT! WE'RE GOING TO GET BLAMED FOR THIS SHIT!" Church screamed.

Weiss then ran over to the door and closed it when Jaune stomped in.

"What?" Yang asked.

"ME AND META! WE'RE GOING TO GET BLAMED FOR WHAT HAPPENED!" the Alpha screamed again and Jaune let out a growl.

"Calm down! You two are just going to cause attention if you haven't already!" Weiss told them.

"HOW THE FUCK CAN WE CALM DOWN?! WE ARN'T EXACTLY THE MOST INNOCENT LOOKING BASTARDS! ESPECIALLY WHEN WE JUST SHOWED UP AND SOME BRATS JUST GOT MURDERED!"

Weiss and Yang froze. Their faces paled and they gained looks of horror.

"W-What did you just say?" Yang asked.

Jaune growled and angrily nodded his head. The room filled with silence for a few moments. Weiss remembered that Ruby had looked like pretty bad and turned to her.

"Ruby? Did you... know about this?" she asked.

Ruby bit her lip as she looked around the room and into everyone's eyes.

"I-I..." Ruby started.

Omega projected himself in her own eyes so that no-one else could see him. He ran his index finger across his throat and pretended to die before flashing out.

"I found out, not long after it happened." she lied as she closed her eyes and bowed her head, tears falling from her face.

Yang then approached Ruby and hugged her head as the red reaper bawled. Weiss turned back to Church and Jaune.

"Who... died?" asked the ice-queen.

"Ah, I don't know. Some guys named uh, Rufus and... Sam? From a team called Caramel or something." Church told her.

"You mean 'Russel and Sky from CRDL'?" Yang questioned.

"Whatever their names, they're dead. We overheard some kids talking about it as they walked by our dorm. Apparently, someone attacked them and kicked their asses in the courtyard last night. They killed two of the poor bastards and gave the other two probable brain damage."

Jaune growled.

"I know they probably had it coming, but think about what will happen if or when someone blames us."

Jaune hissed.

"The fuck can we prove we're innocent? You look like a motherfucking tank and sound like Darth Vader if he ever had a cold."

Again, Jaune growled.

"I know Darth Vader's a badass, but that's not the point."

Another growl.

"What the fuck would Pyrrha even say?! 'Hello. It turns out that the dorky boy that I want to be my boyfriend that everyone thought was dead for two months came back and is really muscular now with big scary armor. Oh, but he didn't hurt anybody. I mean, he did beat the ever loving shit out of them a weak or two ago and almost killed Team RWBY and me and my team... but other than that he wouldn't hurt anybody.'" Church said in a very poor impression of Pyrrha's voice.

Jaune hissed.

"I don't care if that was the worst impression you've ever heard in your life. The point is that we. Are. Boned."

"We can help, and there's also Ren, Nora and Professors Goodwitch and Ozpin. We'll let everyone know you didn't do it." Yang told them.

"Again. What the hell would you guys even say, especially to Commander Dickhead? If you haven't noticed, he already didn't like or trust us."

"We'll think of something."

After that, Jaune's scroll went off and Church read from it.

"It's Pyrrha. Classes are cancelled due to the incident." he reports.

* * *

Two hours later in RWBY's dorm...

Ruby was the only human in the room and Gamma was expressing his annoyance with Omega.

 _"YOU JUST HAD TO GO AND CAUSE PROBLEMS, DIDN'T YOU?"_

 **"Oh, come on! I've been bored forever! I needed to do it!"**

 _"YOU JUST MADE EVERTHING PROBLOMATIC. WHAT IF YOU HAD BEEN CAUGHT?"_

 **"Then I would have killed my captures!"**

"What is wrong with him?" Ruby asked.

 _"HE IS THE FRAGMENT OF RAGE, IT'S ALL HE REALLY KNOWS HOW TO DO. OMEGA, WHY ARE YOU LETTING HER LISTEN TO THIS?"_

 **"I let her watch as I killed those fools earlier, I don't see the point in concealing myself anymore."**

 _"THAT'S WHAT YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO DO."_

 **"Oh please, I'm like the Joker. I'm an agent of chaos and evil incarnate! I live to cause mayhem! Not sit around and wait for shit to go south. I'm pure EVIL! GAHAHA!"**

"We will stop you." Ruby said.

 **"Shut up, you sound like the Alpha. And not a word of this will slip remember?"**

Ruby mopes and looks at the floor, O'Malley's threat still fresh in her mind.

* * *

In a certain dorm room...

Needless to say that Cinder wasn't happy. Mercury, Emerald, and herself were discussing what had happened.

"And neither of you were the ones to do this?" Cinder asked.

"No. I haven't done a thing." Emerald told her.

"What about Neo?" Mercury asked.

"While a likely candidate, she's not even on the premises as of yet. So it couldn't be her." Cinder told them.

"Then who?" questioned Emerald.

"I'm not certain. But, it would appear that our game against Ozpin has an unwanted third player."

"Whoever they are, they just made our job a whole lot harder." Mercury stated.

* * *

 _"YOU'VE CAUSED PANIC."_ Gamma told Omega.

* * *

"Security will be increased." Cinder said.

* * *

 _"I MAY HAVE OZPIN'S TRUST BUT QUESTIONS WILL BE RAISED."_

* * *

"We must be more cautious."

* * *

 _"WE WILL HAVE TO MAKE A BACKUP STRATAGY."_

* * *

"But no matter what..."

* * *

 _"_ _WE_ will _TAKE_ the _FALL_ Maiden _POWERS."_ both Gamma and Cinder said at the same time.


	18. Chapter 16: The Second Semester

Two days later in Port's class...

"Good morning students. Now as you may know, tragedy has fallen upon us this week. Team CRDL was attacked by something unknown to us at the moment two nights back. Th..." Port announced but was cut off by a student raising their hand.

"I heard it was a murder." the girl said.

"Probably the White Fang." a boy added.

"No way. It had to be a Grimm." another told them.

"Like an Ursa?" yet another questioned.

"Why would it just leave though?"

"CRDL wouldn't have lost to just one, even if they weren't the best fighters." the original speaker said.

"You think this is why Atlas came so early?" a girl asked.

"Students, calm yourselves. I..." Port tried to say but was cut off again.

"You think it was the armored guy, Professor?" a boy asked.

"I do not. Our gold companion is a guest of Professor Ozpin's, and I know that he would bring us no harm."

"What about...?"

"As I have said previously, we don't know what they were fighting... but as unfortunate as it is; it was likely not a Grimm."

Nora raised her hand.

"Actually, he's orange. He gets mad when people say he's gold." she said.

"Anyway..." Port returned to the conversation. "For those of you who don't know, I am saddened to report that Mr.'s Thrush and Lark lost their lives in the incident; and that Mr.'s Winchester and Sword are still in recovery. The doctor's said that neither of the two can recall what happened because of either trauma or head injury, but Mr. Winchester is cleared to return to classes tomorrow and Mr. Dove a day or two afterwards. Now, we must get onto the lesson. But first, a story. When I was a boy..."

* * *

Forever Fall...

"What makes you even think it's out here anyway?" Grif questioned.

"You came along for the ride didn't you?" Church reasoned.

"Well yeah, but I didn't see it when I got up. Also, can we hurry it the fuck along? I'm missing breakfast."

"You can eat later, fatass. Where did you land?"

"I fell in a tree."

Church, Jaune, and Grif looked up one of the giant things.

"You mean to tell us that it could be in any one of... these?" Church asked.

"I really hope not. What the fuck do we do if it is?" Grif questioned.

"If it is, then you two losers have to climb up and get it."

Jaune growled. 'You're just enjoying the fact that you can't do it aren't you?'

"Yes. Yes I am."

"Uh, yeah. I'm afraid of heights... so that's all you, Meta." Grif said.

'Seriously?' Jaune growled before looking back up one of the massive trees. 'Son of a bitch.'

* * *

In the cafeteria...

Blake was staring at a book of hers when Yang leaned beside her.

"What'cha doin'?" the brawler asked.

Blake quickly closed the book and replied: "Nothing. Just going over notes from last semester."

Yang then leaned over to the side and caught a grape in her mouth that Nora had launched with a spoon.

"Lame." she told the faunus.

She caught another grape in her mouth before asking: "I'm surprised Grif isn't here. I mean eating is pretty much the only thing he does."

"Before Jaune and Church left they said that they were going off to find him because they needed his help with something." Pyrrha told her.

"They would have to be extremely desperate to even consider that." said Weiss.

Ruby then shows up and drops a massive stack of papers on the table. The top one is listed: * _BEST DAY EVER ACTIVITIES!*_ She then clears her throat before speaking.

"Sisters! Friends! Weiss."

"Hey!" Weiss complained.

"For score and seven minutes ago, I had a dream."

 **'Oh dear God, she's ripping off of King Jr.'** O'Malley thought.

"This oughta be good." Yang said before catching another grape.

"A dream that one day, the four of us would come together as a team and have the most fun anyone has ever had ever!" Ruby continued.

"Did you steal my binder?" Weiss asked.

"I am not a crook."

"What are you talking about?" questioned Blake.

"I'm talking about kicking this semester off with a bang!"

"I always kick my semesters off with a Yang! Eh? Guys? Am I right?" Yang asked, trying to get a laugh before getting hit in the face with a tomato.

"Boooooo!" Nora shouted.

"Look guys, it's been a good two weeks, and between more exchange students arriving, the tournament at the end of the year, and Jaune coming back; our second semester is going to be great!" Ruby told them.

 **'What? Did you already forget about me?'**

'Shut up, Omega.'

 **'It's O'Malley!'**

"But classes started back today, which is why I've taken the time to schedule a series of wonderful events for us today after classes are over." Ruby continued, pretending the small gap that she talked to O'Malley in didn't happen.

"I don't know whether to be proud or scared of what you have in store." Weiss told her.

Yang then stood up out of her seat and threw an apple at Nora. Weiss and Blake then talk until Nora missed her throw and hit Weiss directly in the face with a pie. This action started the most epic food fight in history... minus Jaune's participation.

* * *

Outside the mess hall...

Two teens were walking side by side and one was talking about how he threw a banana at someone when Grif ran up and pushed them out of they way.

"Move it! Those fuckers have better not made me miss lunch!" he yelled before making it to his destination and throwing the doors to the cafeteria open.

"Hey, watch it!" Sun yelled.

"What was that about?" asked Neptune.

"I don't know man. But anyways, the people here are the coolest. No offense to you guys."

"None taken."

"Okay, they're just in here. I'm really excited for you to meet them, so be cool, okay? You're gonna be cool right?"

"Dude." Neptune said with his arms crossed and a suave smile on his face, one of his teeth sparkle.

"Good point."

The two then open the door and see Grif limply standing in place as he's in shock.

"Dude, you okay?" Neptune asked him.

With yelling in the background and no reply from the soldier they look around him as a food fight takes place. Nearing the end of the battle, Weiss takes a massive blow from a watermelon hammer wielding Nora and is sent flying across the building and hit into a pillar, breaking it. Ruby let out a gasp and jumped to catch the falling Schnee, carring her in her arms when they land. Weiss was pretending to have died for their game.

"Weiss. Weiss! Don't leave me! NOOOOOO!" Ruby yelled.

Yang then ran up and fought Ren, the former with turkeys on her fist and the latter holding a leek stalk in both hands. Yang defeats her opponent and then Nora becomes her next challenger. The two heavy hitters ran at one another and Nora hit Yang upwards and through the ceiling. After Blake is defeated by Pyrrha, Ruby stood up.

"My teammates!" she yelled.

 **"You will be AVENGED."** Omega announced.

Without the AI controlling her, Ruby used her semblance to run and force any and all objects to follow her from the wind she created. The objects all crashed in to NPR and sent them flying back into the wall. Sun just stood there smiling while Neptune and Grif were covered in grape soda and the latter whimpered.

"I love these guys." Sun said.

Grif then exploded.

"YOU ANIMALS! YOU MOTHERFUCKING DEMONS! HOW COULD YOU?! ALL THAT FOOD, WASTED!"

The orange soldier then fell to his knees and raised his head and arms towards the sky.

"NOOOOOHOHOHOOOOOOO!"

At that moment, a very angry Glynda stomped into the room and used her semblance to fix the mess teams RWBY and NPR made.

"Children, please, do not play with your food." she said.

Immediately afterwards, Yang came crashing back down from the ceiling and gave the professor a thumbs up with a big smile across her face. Ozpin put his hand on Goodwitch's shoulder.

"Let it go." he calmly told her before he looked back at the still complaining Grif. "You too."

*sigh* "They're supposed to be the defenders of the world." Glynda said.

"And they will be. But right now they're still children, so why not let them play the part?" Ozpin asked before walking off. "After all, it isn't a roll they'll have forever."

He stopped to look at Grif and Neptune.

"You two might want to clean up."

"YOU"RE NOT PUNISHING THEM?!" Grif questioned.

"No."

"WHY?!"

"Calm down. This isn't something to get so worked up over."

"MAYBE NOT TO YOU, BUT TO ME THIS IS EVERYTHING!"

*sigh* "If you want some food I will ask the staff to make you some more. Although if I may ask, what are you doing back so early?"

"Bah. They sent me to get equipment so the Meta could repair the damn thing, another reason I love my semblance is that I don't actually have to carry anything."

"So you found it?"

"I have no idea. The last thing I saw was Meta climbing a tree."

"A... tree?"

"Dude, don't fucking ask."

* * *

Some time later...

Once classes were over, Ruby made her way down to Grif's shack outside the school. Jaune had just finished throwing a tarp over something when she arrived, Grif was on a scroll Ozpin had given to him.

"Why the hell does nowhere serve pizza?! I can't find one dame place on here!" the orange soldier yelled.

"We're in another world, pizza probably doesn't exist." Church told him.

"... Don't you ever fucking say that again."

"Hey guys!" Ruby said.

Jaune growled.

"Hey Ruby." Church replied.

"What are you up to?"

"Just finished working on a project for the day."

"Like what? *gasp* A weapon?!"

"Uh, something like that... I guess."

"Can I see?!"

"Not till it's done. Anyway, what do you want?"

"Oh, yeah! I have a surprise for you guys. Follow me!" Ruby told them with a big smile on her face before walking off.

'What's she so happy about?' Jaune thought.

"Don't know, but I guess we should go take a look."

The two soldiers and the AI followed the red reaper up to the school workshop. They entered and Ruby told Jaune to close his eyes, he did so and felt something get placed in his hands.

"Holy. Hell." both Grif and Church said in amazement.

The Meta opened his eyes to see Brute Shot in his hands, it looked a little cleaner and had Jaune's old emblem on the side. He stared at it wide-eyed and looked back up at Ruby.

"Tah dah!" she exclaimed.

"You fixed that thing?!" Church questioned.

"Actually the original was a goner from when Nora blew it up, I made this one from scratch!"

"How in the hell did you do that?!"

"I had drawn a picture of it and thought of several redesigns for it. Speaking of, press the button on the side of the grip."

Jaune did what he was told and became shocked as the weapon unfolded itself and turned into a scythe.

"It can use several different kinds of dust-grenades, although fire would probably work the best. You seemed to really like Crescent Rose so I thought this would be in your taste." Ruby told him.

The Meta kept staring at and examined the weapon, he felt like he was in Heaven.

"He says 'oh my God, thank you'." Church told Ruby.

"No problem. I have one for Dexter too!" she said before turning around and picking up another weapon.

The weapon was about the size of his old battle rifle but was slightly better looking, orange in most parts, and had a blade pressed against it on both the left and right sides. Ruby pressed a button and it transformed into a double-bladed axe. She handed it to Grif and smiled as she imagined both his and Jaune's awestruck faces under their helmets.

"So, do you guys like them?" she asked.

"Uh, fuck yeah!" Grif announced happily and Jaune hissed and nodded his head.

"Seriously, how in the hell did you make these?" Church questioned.

"Easy. I made Crescent Rose years ago, I even gave her a few upgrades since then! I've also helped design a few weapons for some of my friends at Signal." Ruby told him.

"I have to hand it to you Ruby, I'm impressed."

"Aww thanks. So, are you guys going to name them?"

Jaune growled.

"I think Meta's going to stick with 'Brute Shot'. It's kind of like an iconic thing now." Church told her.

"Alight, cool. How about you Dexter?"

No reply.

"Dexter?"

Still nothing.

"Hey Grif! The kid's asking you a question!" Church yelled.

Grif sniffed. "I'm going to name it 'Pizza Cutter'."

Church facepalmed. "You're pathetic."


	19. Chapter 17: Discoveries Made

It's been three days since the incident with CRDL, and rumors of a giant, white armored man had been spreading around the school. Apparently Jaune was seen at some point when he didn't have the invisibility unit enabled, Ozpin had told him to do this because he had thought it best that they wait some time before they announce the "deceased" huntsman in training's return so it wouldn't be as suspicious with the events that had transpired.

The first year students were talking as they headed to combat class as usual while Ruby silently hoped and prayed that she wouldn't be chosen to fight out of fear that if the two remaining members of CRDL saw her, they would immediately remember what happened. Everyone took their seats as Glynda Goodwitch stood in the center of the arena.

"Good afternoon, students. Before we begin, I have an announcement to make. I'm aware of all of the rumors going around for the past few days of Grimm and yet another armored soldier arriving." she said, causing RWBY and NPR's eyes to widen.

Is she really going to talk about Jaune? Weren't they supposed to wait a few more days?

"As of today I will be ending one of those rumors, as well as make an announcement. From today on, an old acquaintance of yours will be rejoining classes... but they will also be my substitute for this class in case I ever need one, as well as be my assistant." Glynda then turns to the side entrance opposite from where the students piled in. "You can enter now."

They door opened and a figure walked out that made everyone but RWBY and NPR stare in awe and surprise then the others became even more confused when several members of the main teams shouted out in joy. The Meta walked across the arena and stood next to the professor with his arms crossed. He indeed wasn't originally supposed to have his presence known for a little while longer, but Ozpin didn't want the rumors to get even worse.

"Allow me to reintroduce Jaune Arc." Glynda said making the students who didn't know this fact burst out into whispers and looks of shock.

"The incident that had presumed Mr. Arc dead had actually in fact left him brutally injured, so the armor he is wearing now is for protection as well as life support." Glynda absolutely hated to lie to the students that trusted her, but this needed to be done for obvious reasons. "Unfortunately Mr. Arc's vocal cords were ruined, but, the Atlas military has been kind enough to allow him the use of their first ever artificial intelligence program."

"What makes him so special?" Cardin asked mockingly.

"Mr. Arc's life support systems are one of the only things capable of running this program as of right now. And just as a warning, it has... a mind of it's own."

"Hell yeah I do, I'm not some shitty calculator, nor am I an 'it'." Church said as he showed himself before looking at the teens. "What's up you little snots?"

Everyone from RWBY and JNPR aside from Nora facepalmed as the hammer wielding girl laughed and every other student stared at Church and Jaune, many of their mouths hanging open.

"I would like to remind you to not use that kind of language in front of the students." Glynda told him with her eyes narrowed.

"Whatever." Church said, mostly ignoring her. These teens were awestruck by him, so naturally, he was enjoying every second of it.

A student raised their hand. "Um, you said that... Jaune, was going to your assistant in this class?"

"Yep. Not to brag, but I'm also a combat AI. Feel free to bask in the awesomeness that is me anytime you feel like it."

"And that brings us to todays lesson." Glynda announced, ignoring the last part of what Church said. "Mr. Arc and the AI, Church, will be teaching for they day."

This earned many whispers from the crowd and some somewhat frightened looks from RWBY and the rest of JNPR. They knew first hand about the Meta's way of fighting, they just hoped that Jaune could teach them some new tricks without you know... mentally snapping from the many voices in his head. They were warned by Ozpin to be a little more wary of him in combat because when his blood starts pumping, who knows what could happen? That was actually Church's job, make sure he didn't go nuts and to translate whatever the teen said.

"Alright you noobs, from what I hear, some of you are pretty good with your weapons. But what about without them? Whenever we take over, classes will be hand to hand combat." Church translated, but of course he added in the "you noobs" part.

'This is great. Everyone's going to think that I'm awesome while you're just the same old loser.' Church poked at Jaune who in turn growled at him.

'Shut up. Just repeat what I say.'

"How many of you have actually fought this way before?" Church asked and only a few hands were raised. "Okay then, we'll start with some basics. Everyone grab a partner. They can be on another team for all I care. Just get someone. Except, Yang. You'll be our helper for right now because as far as I know, you have the most experience with this."

Yang had very slightly paled but stood up and smirked anyways before heading down to the AI and ex-freelancer. They went over some basic punches and blocks in slow motion so that everyone could have an easier time understanding what Jaune/Church were talking about.

* * *

That night at dinner...

After combat class, the rest of they day went just like normal until dinner time came along. Teams RWBY and most of JNPR had already started eating by the time Janue and Grif showed up. Somehow, a rumor spread around that Grif was actually there to make sure that Church didn't fail as an AI unit and was there to patch him up if he had any glitches, and that's why he looked different from any other soldier and was there before the others. A ton of eyes watched Jaune as he got his food, sat down, and took off his helmet, showing his yellow eyes and neck scars. What RWBY and the rest of JNPR noticed however, was how much he reeked of sweat.

"Goh! What were you guys doing?!" Weiss asked with her nose pinched.

"Is it that bad?" Church asked.

"Yes!"

"Wow. Sucks to be you." Church said as he pointed as his nonexistent nose.

"Oh, shut up!"

Jaune then hissed and put his helmet back on before eating under it.

"Jeeze, if you smell that bad, than I'd hate for Grif to take his off." Yang stated.

"The fuck is that supposed to mean?" the orange soldier asked.

"Well uh, we've never seen you without your helmet." Ruby told him.

"So?"

"So, when was the last time that you didn't wear your armor?" Ren questioned.

"Before I was sent to Blood Gulch."

"How long ago was that?" Nora asked.

"Grif was there for as long as I was. So, like what? Five? Five and a half years?" Church said, much to the shock of the teens.

"You... haven't taken off your armor in five years?" Pyrrha questioned.

"Oh wait. I did when Sarge gave me surgery. I don't see the big deal though." Grif stated before taking a bite of a burger.

"You don't see the...?! When was the last time you showered?!" Weiss asked.

"Showered? We ran out of water years ago."

"... How are you still alive?!"

"What did you guys drink if you didn't have water?" Yang asked, slightly scared of the answer.

"Umm... soy sauce, ketchup, beer..." Grif told them.

"Okay, you are taking a shower, now." Weiss said.

"Huh?"

"Just the thought of this is making me want to throw up, so you will take a shower even if I have to drag you to it."

"Try me."

Wiess stares into Grif's visor while he stares into her eyes, daring eachother to fight... Three minutes later the entire cafeteria watched as both Weiss and Yang were dragging Grif across the ground and out of the door as he held onto a table and was begging for them to at least let him eat first.

* * *

Somewhere in an Atlas facility...

A guard was walking along the side of a gate and talking into his scroll.

"This is Private Jackson. There's no activity on the west side... as per usual."

 _"Well make another round, you never know when someone will try and break in."_ a voice said on the other side of the call.

"Ma'am, someone would have to be pretty dumb to try and bust in here."

 _"Indeed, but just make another round. It would make General Ironwood greatly upset if the facility was lost or the project exposed."_

*sigh* "Yes Ms. Shcnee." the guard says unhappily before hanging up on his scroll. "I swear, that woman is always too obsessed with making the general happy. She is such a kissa…" the soldier muttered to himself before having a hand grab the side of his face and his throat was slashed.

His attacker then took his key card and swiped it into the scanner to open the surveillance room nearby. The room had three robotic guards watching the cameras and the attacker kicked the middle one in the back of the head and made it's face slam down onto the desk. The other two quickly stood up out of their chairs but one was impaled by an umbrella while the other had two legs wrap around it's neck before being slammed into the ground. The first one that was attacked then stood up and pulled it's gun out just before being decapitated. The attacker then shut down all the cameras in the facility before pulling out their scroll and typing: _*Done.*_

A voice spoke into their earpiece. _"Good job, Neo. Now, let's see if our employer gave us the right information to where these things are located."_

* * *

RWBY's dorm...

Weiss was going over some notes from that day's classes in the binder that Ruby "didn't steal" for her "Best Day Ever" plans. She had already dumped out everything that the hooded girl had put in there but when she was about to close it, she noticed a part of a paper still in the back. Weiss huffed, pulled the paper out, and was about to throw it away when something caught her eye. Some of the words seemed a bit darker than the others, making her feel like she should take a look. The ice-queen rolled her eyes at what she was doing and started to read the paper. It was a "game" that Ruby had made up called: "The **Omega**."

 _*The plot is that there is a traitor in a team called the **Omega**. One person plays as the **Omega** while everyone else is still a **team** who's goal is to **stop** the **Omega**. This is accomplished by gathering the **nine** materials scattered around to combine them and **defeat** their **hidden** traitor. The **Omega** can win by **keeping** **their identity** **a secret from everyone** else long enough for them to take them out one by one without getting caught or they will **suffer the consequences**. The team members need to work together and **help** eachother in order to win.*_

'What a strange game. It might actually work though.' Weiss thought to herself. 'Why would she write it like this though? It can't be coincidental that all the words "Omega" are darkened.'

Weiss then started to reread the darkened words.

'Omega. Team. Stop. Nine. Defeat. Hidden. Keeping their identity a secret. Suffer the consequences. Help.' "Huh, if I didn't know any better, I'd say this looked like a call... for...help."

Weiss then started to think everything over.

'I know Ruby's been acting off for a while but this... Ruby's been acting off recently. She's been getting really angry at random ever since a day or two after... Jaune came back. He had nine AI in his head and they were all different traits. Let's see. There was uh, logic, deceit, fear, happiness,... rage.'

Weiss then froze up for a second before glancing back over to the paper. More specifically, a word. Omega.

'No. Th-That's not possible... right? Well Church and Gary are here. But that...'

Then she remembered the day that she saw Ruby's eyes glowing white.

'Whenever an AI spoke took ahold of Jaune, his eyes would change colors. But the only white one was...'

Weiss then slowly looked back at the word "omega" again and memories of what the AI of rage has said and what was said about him played in her head.

 **Paint the road with her blood!**

 **THAT BITCH DESERVES TO BE SENT INTO OBLIVION!**

 _HE IS THE STRONGEST OF US_

 **KILL HIM! KILL THEM ALL!**

Weiss placed a hand over her mouth. 'There's no way. Is Ruby really...?'

The Shcnee heiress was snapped out of her thoughts and let out a yelp as the door flew open and Ruby said: "Hey, Weiss!"

"Woah. High strung much?" Yang joked.

Weiss tore her eyes away from Ruby and looked at Yang and Blake. "It's uh, It's nothing. Don't mock me."

She really needed to tell them what she found, but she'll have to wait until Ruby's away.

"Okay ice-queen, you just need to CHILL out." Yang said with a wink and her teammates groaned at the pun.

"Is Grif still in the shower?" Blake asked due to the sound of running water.

"Yes. I told him to take a very long one to get rid of all the filth that's been building up." Weiss said, trying to pretend like her normal self.

The water then stops running and Dexter Grif comes out with just a towel on.

"Okay, which on of you little turd squirts took my suit?" he questions.

The girls didn't answer but instead just stared at the overweight soldier. Grif's entire left arm, and parts of the left side of his stomach, torso, left leg, his right foot, and the area around his right eye were all a much whiter variant of skin then the rest of his body and the two skin tones were separated from one another by stitches. There was a long scar from right below his collarbone all the way down to near the bottom of his stomach. He also had light-blue eyes, messy and slightly greasy dirty blonde hair and a short, untidy beard. They heard him say that he had a surgery, but he looked like he had been through a lot. There was also something else...

"I get it. I look like Frankenstein's fucking monster, okay? Now where's my suit?" Grif asked.

"I uh... took it to go get washed." Yang told him.

"Well that's great. Now I don't have any clothes."

The girls kept staring at him.

"What?!" he snapped, making them jump.

"It's just, uh..." Ruby started.

"What?"

"You remember how the time-distortion unit sent you back five years?" Blake asked.

"Yeah."

"And it made vomit boy younger?" Yang added.

"So what?"

"Uh, how old are you?" Weiss asked.

"Uh, twenty-four. Wait. Why?"

"You don't... look twenty-four."

Grif's eyes widened and he ran to the bathroom mirror. He looked at his reflection and was annoyed with what he saw. He looked like he did when he was nineteen.

"OH, GODDAMNIT!" he shouted.


	20. Update

**Dear readers: I want to apologize for the lack of uploads on any of my stories for the month and I'm just letting you all know that none of** **them are dead. It started off with me just taking a small break for a week or so in order to read some other stories, watch some anime, and play a few video games... but then I got an EEG done, registered for my collage classes which was kind of an issue for a small amount of false information I received, had to do a pretty good amount of house/yard work, and just haven't had motivation to write for most of these past days really; although I have written some parts of chapters and have one almost complete and even started on a new story. Yeah I know, five stories at once is a lot but hey... it's a Deadpool in RWBY story! Although one of if not our favorite merc is in a new incarnation that you'll have to wait for and I may or may not upload to the site in a while because four stories at once is already a pretty good amount to deal with... we'll see. So again, sorry for the wait and I'll hopefully have the next chapters for all my stories come out soon. :)**


	21. Chapter 18: Who Will Win?

**Note: I've tried writing this for a week now but I found myself going to yet another new project. I should stick with what I got on here already and work with new stories later, unfortunately that ain't what my brain wants. Well, at least it's out now.**

 **Okay begin!**

* * *

James Ironwood stepped out of the elevator and into the headmaster's office to have a chat with the professor but found that he wasn't there.

"Ozpin?" he asked.

No response.

The general turned around to leave when a voice caught his attention.

 _"HELLO, GENERAL."_ Gamma said as he popped up from Ozpin's computer and showed himself in his humanish, glitchy form with his hands falling to his sides.

Ironwood whipped around when he heard the unfamiliar voice and pointed his gun at the AI.

"Who are you?!" he demanded.

 _"I AM YOUR RUNAWAY AI."_ Gamma lied.

"How did you get in here?!"

 _"I'VE BEEN HERE THE WHOLE TIME."_

Ironwood's arm fell slightly. "... What?"

 _"ARE YOU LOOKING FOR THE HEADMASTER AS WELL? I WISH TO SPEAK WITH HIM IN REGARDS ABOUT THE META. OR AS YOU CALL HIM, 'JAUNE ARC'."_

"How do you know Ozpin?"

 _"I AM HIS NEWEST ASSISTANT AND AM CURRENTLY KEEPING WATCH OVER AUTUMN."_

The headmaster of Atlas' eyes grew. "How do you know about her?!"

 _"PROFESSOR OZPIN HAS GIVEN ME ALL THE DETAILS ON HER SO THAT I MAY HELP KEEP WATCH OVER HER."_

"And why should he believe you?"

Gamma's image flashed into a recording of Ozpin and Glynda from when they first recruited him. _"Once again I am aware of your concern, but given the circumstances I would like to have eyes on her at all hours. We also have to be wary of the other programs, we couldn't do a thing if one of them decides to take her over; and Gary has already earned my trust by not targeting her."_

This made the general's arm fall completely. "How long have you been with them?"

 _"EVER SINCE I FIRST ESCAPED YOU."_

Ironwood put his hand to his chin.

 _"I WOULD'VE THOUGHT THAT THEY WOULD INFORM YOU OF THIS."_ the AI of deceit sneakily said.

'So would I.' the General of Atlas thought. "What did you need to discuss about the boy? Arc?"

 _"ABOUT HIS MENTAL STATE."_

"Ozpin told me that he gave him an AI to help with that, and that he's been improving."

 _"HE HAS, BUT HE STILL NEEDS A FIRM EYE ON HIM. AFTER ALL,_ _IMAGINE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF THE QUEEN FOUND OUT ABOUT THIS FACT. SHE IS PROBABLY ALREADY AWARE OF HIS EXISTANCE BY NOW, BUT IF SHE ONLY KNEW ABOUT HIS MIND... SHE COULD EASILY MAKE HIM SNAP AND CAUSE MASS DISTRUCTION."_

Ironwood's face lost some of it's color from this thought. Ozpin had spoken to him of the teen's enormous power. If the Queen was to get him... may God help them all. He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Gamma say: _"EXTRA CAUTION MUST BE TAKEN... ESPECIALLY AROUND THE FALL MAIDEN NOW THAT THE META IS ON THIS WORLD."_

"You don't think he would go after her? Only females can become the Maidens."

 _"THE META HAS ALWAYS SEEKED POWER TO BECOME STRONGER. TO 'BE WHOLE' AS HE PUT IT WHEN WE WERE HIS SLAVES, AND THERE IS NO WAY THAT HE WOULD KNOW ABOUT THE SEX-LOCK. EVEN IF HE DID, IT WOULDN'T STOP HIM FROM FINDING SOME WAY TO HAVE HER POWERS."_

"You're right, we must be on guard and strengthen our defenses. We cannot take any risks." Ironwood stated and began to walk back towards the door but was stopped by Gamma.

 _"GENERAL, DON'T GET MAD AT OZPIN OVER MY NEW POSITION. THINGS HAVE BEEN SO CHAOTIC LATELY THAT HE HASN'T HAD MUCH TIME FOR A CASUAL CONVERSATION."_

"... I suppose you're right."

And with that, the general left; leaving behind an evilly smirking Gamma. That went nicely.

* * *

Ozpin sighed and took a sip from his mug as he and Glynda walked back to the headmaster's office building. They were just coming back from Team RWBY's dorm from when the leader of the team told them about Grif's appetent de-aging... which did not go well for anyone but Yang and the headmaster. The two watched in amusement between Grif and Glynda's argument about underaged drinking with the former's main being that he was previously a man, meaning that he should still be able to drink... and then admitted to having his first bottle of beer at the age of twelve. Grif threatened Ruby for "tattletaleling", Weiss, and Blake gained headaches from the situation, and Glynda was just flat out angry that she couldn't get Grif to give up from anything that she tried.

"Well, he did have to work for Sarge." Ruby had said to everyone.

Before the two professors made it to their destination however, a certain writing of text appeared on Goodwitch's scroll.

 _"HELLO."_ Gamma's said.

"A fine hello to you as well, Gamma. What do you wish to discuss?" Ozpin asked.

 _"GENERAL IRONWOOD CAME TO CHECK ON OUR SPECIAL GUEST AGAIN. AND IN ALL HONESTY, I AM CONCERNED."_ said the AI of deceit.

"About?"

 _"THE GENERAL."_

At this, Ozpin raised a brow.

 _"I KNOW THAT YOU BOTH ARE FRIENDS AND COMMRADS, BUT I WOULD SUGGEST KEEPING AN EYE ON HIM."_

"And what makes you say that?"

 _"YOU COULD SAY THAT HE IS BEING CAUTIOUS, BUT HIS DECISIONS DON'T SEEM TO BE THE BEST. ESPCIALLY WITH THE FLEET OUTSIDE."_

"What are you getting at?"

 _"BY SENDING SUCH A LARGE PORTION OF HIS ARMY HERE, HE HAS BASICALLY LEFT ATLAS DEFENCLESS. LET'S PROPOSE THAT THE ENEMY KNOWS THAT AUTUMN IS HERE, IRONWOOD HAS INDEED BROUGHT HER GREATER PROTECTION. BUT WHAT IF THAT'S WHAT THEY WANT? IN ORDER TO PROTECT HER, THE GENERAL HAS SEPERATED HIMSELF AND MOST OF HIS FORCES FROM ATLAS TO VALE... BUT BY DOING SO HE HAS LEFT THE MOST ADVANCED AND PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT KINGDOM WIDE OPEN FOR AN ATTACK."_

This theory made Ozpin and Glynda glance at one another.

 _"THEY ALSO MORE THAN LIKELY KNOW HOW THE GENERAL IS AND WILL REACT. HE WOULD SEND MOST IF NOT ALL OF HIS FLEET INCLUDING HIMSELF BACK TO ATLAS, LEAVING VALE AN EASIER TARGET WHILE YOU ALL BECOME CONCERNED FOR THE SURVIVAL OF ATLAS, DISTRACTING YOU FROM THE FALL MAIDEN AND LEAVING HER WIDE OPEN... OR TRY AND TAKE HER WITH HIM SEEING AS HOW HE CHECKS ON HER CONSTANTLY DUE TO HIS LACK OF TRUST IN AGENT MAINE AND THAT THERE IS A MISSING AI."_

Ozpin thought for a second. "That may actually be possible."

"What?" Glynda asked.

"Our opponent is no pushover and likely has a few tricks up her sleeve, so anything could be probable... and James has been acting rather rash in his concerns with both the Queen as well as Mr. Arc."

 _"THAT IS THE OTHER THING I WANTED TO BRING UP."_ Gamma informed them, regaining their attention.

"Yes?"

 _"... THE META."_

"Mr. Arc has been improving..." Glynda started but was cut off.

 _"THE GENERAL CAME INTO YOUR OFFICE LOOKING FOR YOU AND I OVERHEARD HIM MUMBLE SOMETHING ABOUT GETTING EXTRA SOLDIERS AND 'KEEPING AN EYE ON HIM'. I FEAR HE MIGHT TRY TO DO SOMETHING RASH AGAINST AGENT MAINE IN WHICH COULD IN TURN ENRAGE HIM AND CAUSE IS MIND TO SNAP."_

"You're certain of this?"

"Remember, Gary was inside of Mr. Arc's head for a while after he had returned to us; even Church has let us know how... *ahem* 'fucked up' is mindset really is and that we should try and refrain him from getting his blood pumping." Ozpin informed her.

"You're right... And we can't forget about that missing AI either. Things are looking bad."

"Indeed. So Gary, have you come to any theories on the possible runaway?"

 _"AS I HAVE STATED BEFORE, OMEGA IS NOT POSSIBLE BY THE FACT THAT HE COULDN'T GO TWO SECONDS WITHOUGHT KILLING SOMEONE. I HAVE CONSIDERED THETA BUT RULED HIM OUT BECAUSE HIS FEARFULNESS AND CHILD-LIKE NATURE WOULD JUST LEAD TO HIM RUNNING BACK TO AGENT MAINE. I BELIVE THE MOST LIKELY CANDIDATE WOULD BE BETA/AGENT TEXAS AS SHE IS KNOWN TO DISAPPEAR WITHOUT A TRACE AND IS A MASTER OF THE SHADOWS AS WELL."_ the most computer-like AI lied. _"HOW IS THE MURDER CASE SOMING ALONG?"_

*sigh* "Not well I'm afraid."

 _"HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT IT BEING CAUSED BY THE META?"_

"... It is a thought that I have had, yes. After all, Team CRDL was always hard on him from what I've come to learn, and the facts that he has already fought and beaten them once and is as mentally unstable as you say he is... it's not impossible nor unlikely. However, I do not believe it was his doing because I trust that Church would have let us know. There is also the fact that Mr. Arc is not in the position of a weapon and that Team CRDL was attacked by someone with one."

 _"ACTUALLY, AGENT MAINE WAS GIVEN A NEW WEAPON COURTESY OF RUBY ROSE."_

Ozpin and Glynda then exchanged looks of concern and Gamma waited for one of them to say something in silence for a few moments. Omega may have royally slipped up like the massive idiot he is, but Ruby's love of making weapons may just have gotten them out of the predicament they were in and then some... maybe the AI of rage didn't completely screw everything up after all... he may have even made things easier.

"Gary, I would like you to inform James of your theory about the possible move on Atlas while we shall discuss what to do if Mr. Arc really is the culprit." Ozpin finally said.

 _"CERTANTLY."_ Gamma said. Ironwood would never know a thing.

* * *

RWBY's dorm...

Weiss was pacing back and forth across the room with her right hand on her mouth and chin while her elbow rested on her left arm that was currently across her stomach as she waited for either Blake or Yang to enter. The two were with Ruby in the library and she didn't want to raise her suspicion by just calling them but not her. She thought about announcing that the red reaper was under Omega's control while they were with Ozpin and Goodwitch, but she held back from it seeing as how that may not have been looked at as actual proof.

Weiss looked at the door hopefully when it started to open, but it just ended up being the one person that she didn't want to enter.

"Hey, Weiss." Ruby said. "Whatch'a doin'?"

"Oh nothing, just thinking about... uh."

"Uh?"

"Uh...rsa and the other types of Grimm." the Schnee Heiress said hopefully.

"Oh, okay!"

Ruby then sat down on her bed and got onto her scroll.

"So... did you find your binder that I borrowed?" she asked.

"Huh?! Uh, yes. Yes I did. Thank you for returning it." Weiss said.

"..."

"..."

"Did you read it?"

"Yes. You wrote quite a lot actually, it was a process to get it all out."

"... What did you think of it?"

"Oh, it was... interesting."

"Cool."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

 **'What the hell is with this atmosphere?'** Omega thought. **'What's wrong with you?'** he questioned Ruby.

'Nothing! Ah! I mean... nothing.' Ruby told him immediately after he asked. Her nerves were getting the better of her.

Both Ruby and Weiss were sitting uncomfortably and he wanted to know why. They never acted like this... especially the sugar freak. Ruby had looked over to Weiss' binder for a second without thinking to see the lone paper still inside but jerked her eyes away the moment she realized it. It was too late however. With both Ruby's sudden reaction and Weiss stating that the papers were all dumped, Omega's interest was peeked. He took control of Ruby's body and moved over to the binder. Weiss had seen her move out of the corner of her eye and turned to her in the hope that she was leaving, but her heart dropped when she saw her reading the paper. The Schnee heiress was too scared to move in the fear that if she did, the AI would get what Ruby had done immediately.

When Ruby was writing the paper, Omega didn't pay attention because he viewed it all as stupid, and after reading it... he still didn't understand what was so important about it. It looked like a dumb child's game to him. … He wasn't the smartest AI after all. But he eventually noticed something. Some words were darker then the others... and he finally realized the code.

Weiss had never been so petrified as the glowing white eyes of the psychopathic killer looked up from the paper and at her. He noticed her glance to the opposite side of the room making him look that way as well. She was looking at her weapon. The two then turned their eyes back to one another.

They both made a break for Myrtenaster.


	22. Chapter 19: Omega Ruby

**Note: Welp… it's been a while, all I have to say is hallelujah. Sorry these things are taking some time but collage and life have kept me busy.**

 **Okay begin!**

* * *

Both Weiss and Ruby had ahold of Myrtenaster and were trying to overpower one another by pulling the weapon towards themselves, they each had a cut hand due to the fact that they each had one on the blade of the weapon wile the other was wrapped around the hilt.

"Ghhr. Ruby, let go!" Weiss ordered.

 **"You let go!"** Omega retorted with his and the red reaper's voices overlapping.

The possessed girl eventually gained the upper hand due to Weiss losing her balance over a book on the floor, allowing the younger of the two to charge forwards and slam the older girl's back onto her desk as she struggled to keep her own sword from cutting her throat open.

"Grrr. Ruby, you have to, uhg, fight him off!" the Schnee Heiress begged.

 **"Guhuhuhu. Your precious rose is under my power! I am the one in control!"** Omega announced. **"So beg again, because no one will save you!"**

Weiss then used one of her legs to trip her leader before using the opportunity to throw her to the side.

 **"Woah!"** Omega/Ruby yelled before their face hit the floor. They then pushed themselves up on their arms and saw Weiss pointing her rapier at them; her eyes were both fearful and yet determined.

"Let. Her. Go." she demanded.

 **"Make me."**

Weiss summoned a glyph in an attempt to freeze them, but the AI of rage used Ruby's semblance to get themselves out of the way and tackle the white haired teen into the wall behind her, making her drop her weapon, within a period of half a second. Omega/Ruby brought up their fist to pound their opponent's head in but Weiss kicked them in the stomach and tackled them to the floor. The W in Team RWBY attempted to hold her possessed friend on the ground, but she managed to knee the rich girl in the stomach after a bit of squirming. Omega/Ruby then quickly got off the ground, and in a quick motion, picked up Weiss by the back of her neck, made their way over to the dorm's bookshelf, and slammed the Ice Queen's head into it.

Weiss let out a cry of pain, grabbed her leader's hands and failed to pry them off, resulting in her head getting slammed again. However, she got free after that and threw Ruby over her shoulder and into the center of the bookcase, making her land upside down and leaned against the shelf with several of the books on top of her. Weiss turned and tried to run out the door for help, but was struck in the back of the neck and fell on the ground due to an aerial attack courtesy of _"Ninja's of Love."_

She began to push herself up off of the floor when Ruby grabbed her ankles and began to drag her across the floor. Weiss quickly turned over and kicked her leader in the face, forcing her to let go. As they stumbled back from the blow, Weiss picked up her rapier and released a dust attack, knocking Omega/Ruby against the wall and freezing their right arm to it.

 **"Not fair!"** Omega complained, his voice still overlapping with Ruby's.

With one hand wrapped around her weapon, which was being pointed at Omega/Ruby, Weiss walked over to her desk and picked up her scroll, not taking her eyes off of her leader as she did so. The heiress then began to open her contact list when Omega left Ruby's head, jumped in the scroll, and started to destroy it from the inside. Weiss let out a small gasp as electricity shot out from the device and zapped her hand. With the white haired girl's scroll now being useless, Omega jumped into her head, leaving Ruby wide-eyed.

"Wiess!" she squeaked.

Weiss then shook her head, with her eyes flashing from white to their usual blue color and slightly sparking when she looked at the caped fifteen year old.

"W-Weiss?"

 **"Boo."**

Ruby began trembling and felt a single tear fall from her face when she heard the two voices overlap and saw the eyes stop flashing and stay the color of snow, Weiss with a nasty grin plastered across her face all the while. Omega then looked down at the rapier in his host's hand, before raising it up to inspect it. Ruby could only watch as Weiss gently ran her currently healing hand across the blade. Omega looked back at Ruby out of the corner of his eye and rolled a fire duct vile towards Ruby's feet, before putting Weiss' other hand on the hilt, sticking her arms out, and pointing the blade at his host's chest.

Weiss looked back up at Ruby and smirked.

 **"King takes Queen."**

Ruby screamed as Weiss plunged her arms forwards.

* * *

Beacon Library...

"Aaaaand… that's game!" Yang exclaimed as she KO'ed her opponent in a game on her scroll.

"Yang, this is a library. At least try to keep the noise to a minimum." Blake told her while not looking up from her notes about the White Fang.

The brawler happily stretched her arm after her twelve straight victory before waving her partner off.

"Meh. Whatever you say, kitty cat." she teased, causing one of Blake's ears underneath her bow to twitch in annoyance. "You gonna stay here or head back?"

"I'm going to stay a little bit longer." the faunus replied.

"Later then." Yang said before walking off, Blake didn't say anything but waved her partner by.

* * *

Back in RWBY's dorm...

Tears fell from Ruby's eyes as she watched her partner and best friend fall to the ground, impaled by her own weapon.

 **"I told you what would happen."** Omega stated while back in the red reaper's head.

The AI had jumped back into hers at the last second and when he didn't get a reply from his comment, he just shrugged and used the vile on the ground to melt the ice away. What he didn't realize however, was that his target of Weiss' heart missed. Weiss had quickly adjusted the blade to the side, sticking her side and making it look like from the AI and Ruby's point of view that it hit it's mark.

As Omega was busy with burning himself free from smashing the vile against the wall, Weiss quietly stood back up, screaming on the inside as she removed the blade from her side. Why? Why did she keep getting cut open and impaled?!

 **"Now that you fucked everything up, we need to leave this shithole and get a secret hidden lair where we shall plot to destroy all of creation! If only I had Lopez, I suppose I'll need to find a new minion... preferably one that speaks English this time."**

After Omega Ruby was free, they looked back down to spot a glyph underneath their feet.

They swore: **"Fuck."** before getting launched to the ceiling.

Weiss needed to be smart here, Omega had nearly killed her and she needed to end this dual as continuing to fight would be suicide due to her injury... but she couldn't keep him occupied forever. She needed help. In a slit second observation, she noticed that when Omega/Ruby land, they'd be in a direct shot in front of the window. With her hand on her side, she created a glyph under her own feet and waited for the right moment to present itself... and present itself it did. The AI possessed girl landed on her face, covering it with one hand as she stood back up, only to remove it and a pair of heels collided with her face, sending them both crashing through the window.

* * *

Twelve seconds earlier...

Ren sighed with as he pinched his eyes. "Nora, no."

"Aww, come on! Please?!" his partner begged.

"No."

"Please?!"

"No."

Pyrrha silently laughed as she and Jaune walked aside their teammates... one of which was currently bugging the other about something to do with a sloth, a roll of tape, and a rocket launcher. The Meta stopped in his tracks when he heard the sound of something breaking a little ways back and high up.

His partner noticed that he stopped moving after a few more seconds of her quiet laughing and turned back towards him. "What is it?"

He growled in response as he looked towards where the sound came from, causing Church to appear on his shoulder.

"Hell no, I didn't hear anything... as a matter of fact, I can't hear my own thoughts because of those two!" he said in reference to Ren and Nora.

"PLEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAASSSSEEE?!" the female Thor continued to beg.

"No." replied the male Mulan.

Jaune looked back towards the source of the noise once again with his brow furrowed until Pyrrha grabbed his arm.

"Come on, we need to back up Ren just in case Nora decides to run off and attempt her plan to make a 'super-sloth.'" she said, causing the blonde to reluctantly nod.

* * *

After bursting through the window, Weiss caught herself with yet another glyph and was about to call for help right before Ruby snarled angrily and activated her semblance, grabbing the Schnee heiress off of her platform and they traveled in a red and white blur. **(think of the thing during the train scene in the first episode of Volume 6 of RWBY)**

* * *

Grif's shack...

The orange soldier was sleeping peacefully in full armor as he was laid back in his recliner with a half empty bottle of beer in his hands, a few more at his feet alongside one bag of chips and two empty boxes of snack cakes as he faced a television hung on the wall that was currently switched on to a sports channel... more specifically one where the cheerleaders had on small shirts and short-shorts. Suddenly Ruby and Weiss crashed through one side of the shack and out the other, not getting a reaction from the sim trooper for a good three seconds before he shot up.

*Zsskc! Snort!* "Oreos!"

He collapsed once again and resumes snoring shortly after.

* * *

Ozpin took a sip from his mug as he was reading some paperwork.

One second...

Two...

Ruby and Weiss sped past his office, but no audio broke past his soundproof windows.

One second...

Two...

Three...

Ozpin takes another sip.

* * *

Peace and quiet, with Yang gone, Blake finally had what she wanted.

 ***CRASH!***

O-kay... maybe not.

Whatever broke through the window just slammed into a bookcase and knocked a few shelves over like dominoes. So, naturally, the cat faunus got up to check the disaster... only to gasp in shock at what she saw.

Ruby was holding Weiss' arms down as she sat on her while Weiss did her best to fight back, which unfortunately wasn't much because of the stab wound in her side and that she put almost all of her remaining energy into kicking her opponents out the dorm window.

"Wh-what's going on?!" Blake questioned in surprise.

"Blake!" Weiss called out tiredly. "It's Omega! "He's controlling Ruby!"

"What?!"

Only now realizing that he had been spotted, the AI of rage quickly gets off of Weiss before grabbing her arm and throwing her towards Blake, the ex member of the White Fang managed to catch her friend, holding her in a bridal carry, before glaring at Ruby.

 **"You know?"** the overlapped voices asked. **"I always fucking hated cats."**

"Weiss?" Blake asked after laying her friend on the ground and turning back towards her leader while taking Gamble Shroud off her back.. "How did this happen?"

"I-I don't know exactly, but he had control of me for a bit as well." she replied.

Blake narrowed her eyes. "How is that even possible? I thought they could only control electronics."

"I think it's his semblance. Like how Gary can sow time down."

 **"Hey! What are you two talking about over there?!"** Omega/Ruby shouted.

"Any chance of getting her back?" asked the faunus.

 **"I will rip out your hearts and devour them as I burn this entire academy to OBLIVION!"**

"Blake..." Weiss said weakly before passing out, causing the cat-girl to look back at her.

Weiss needed help bad. She couldn't even move on her own. However, if she had left now to get help, Ruby might disappear. They may never find her again. Blake tightened her grip on her weapon and ran at Ruby. The leader of the team dashed forwards with her hand in a fist in an attempt to clock the former White Fang member in the face. Blake jumped into the air and Omega came into contact with a shadow-clone that Blake lit of fire.

 **"Gahh!"** the AI yelled when his hand comes into contact with it, turning around and holding it afterwards.

Omega/Ruby turned back around to find themselves to be the only ones in the building.

 **"Hmm. Smart move, I'll give the bitch that."**

"Don't talk about my friends like that! Just leave us alone!" Ruby demanded.

 **"Quiet, you fool. We're going back to your room for your weapon, after that, I have one more task to complete before we blow this dump."**

They then disappeared into a cluster of rose petals.

* * *

Beacon Courtyard...

"Oh my God." complained Church. "Does she ever shut up?"

'We've been with them four days, I guess we should have known.' the Meta growled in a tired fashion.

"Why couldn't I have stayed dead? Not only did I come back once, but now I'm here again and I have to deal with all this new shit. What fucking god did I piss off?"

 **You sure as hell piss me off.**

Shut up O'Malley.

 **I will kill you all!**

I said shut up!

 _Would you both calm down? You're starting to scare Theta._

The Meta sighed. The biggest problem with a crap ton of voices in your head? Shit like this happens. Oh well, at least it takes his mind of Nora's continuous talking. Still, he wants at lest four seconds of silence.

"Jaune!" someone yelled, causing him to growl. He became less annoyed however, when he saw Blake running up with an injured Weiss in her arms.

"What happened?!" exclaimed Pyrrha.

"It's Ruby! She's been taken over by Omega!"

Maine snarled. 'What the hell? I have Omega. How did she get possessed?'

"I told you they're not real." stated Church. "Alright, Ren and Nora, take Weiss to get help. Pyrrha, get Ozpin. Meta, follow Blake to O'Malley."

'But I have...'

"Shut the fuck up and go with the ninja-girl!"

The Meta growled and nodded at Blake before everyone split up.

* * *

Ozpin's office...

"Professor!" Pyrrha exclaimed when she finally reached the headmaster's office.

"What's wrong?" Glynda questioned.

"Weiss was stabbed by Ruby!"

"Ms. Rose?" Ozpin asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Blake told us that Omega's in her head!"

The two teachers look at each other before turning back to the spartan.

"Lead the way, Ms. Nikos." states Ozpin and the three depart.

Once out of the elevator, the three run in the opposite direction of a certain hooded individual waiting for them to get out of his way.

 **"Thought the old man would never leave."** mumbled Omega.

Once in the elevator, he let Ruby speak again.

"What are you doing?"

 **"Just going to copy something."**

"What?"

 **"Nothing of your concern at the moment."**

Once reaching the floor, Omega blocked out Ruby again so that she couldn't blab about this either.

 **"Now, if I were secret documents, where would I hide?"**

He spent twenty minutes searching Ozpin's computer before pulling out the drawers in his desk when he came up empty handed. Eventually, he uncovered the information on Amber. He used Ruby's semblance to quickly copy the necessary information on a blank piece of paper before shoving the original back into place and the copied version in Ruby's cloak before going on to Ozpin's balcony and disappearing into rose petals.


	23. Update 2

**Dear Readers: Hey y'all, I know it's been a while and so here's a short update. I got a job, so yay. I've also been pretty busy with moving as I had to help my sister and her fiancée move into their own place and had to move everything from my house into two other new places. We finally got it put on the market today. There was a point where I got back to working on my stories on here... but that didn't last long as my dog, who has been in my family for nearly my entire life, had a stroke and is having eating and walking problems so I've been worried over him constantly and spending a lot of my spare time with him. I apologize for the lack of uploads and I hope I'll have something out soon.**

 **Until then,**

 ** _PBB_**


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